‘Keeping us hooked on fossil fuels’: how can we negotiate with autocracies on the climate crisis?

The bulk of global greenhouse gas emissions come from countries that are not democratic, and many big oil and gas exporters are also authoritarian

• The big emitters: which countries are holding back climate action and why?

When it comes to the climate crisis, how do you negotiate with an autocracy?

It is the case today, and it is almost certain to remain so for the dwindling number of years in which we can hope to stave off the worst of climate breakdown, that the bulk of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from countries that are not democratic. Add to that, many of the major suppliers of oil and gas - the Gulf petrostates for instance, plus Russia, Venezuela and a few others - are likewise authoritarian.