France dodges climate measure - Macron concedes on eco taxes

It is a less-than-reassuring example of humanity’s inability to see beyond the next hill that, within hours of David Attenborough’s end-of-civilisation warning on climate change, the French government suspended eco-fuel tax plans because of three weeks of increasingly violent protests.

Unfortunately, Ireland’s response must be muted, as our Government followed a similar head-in-the-sand policy when it dropped plans to increase carbon taxes in the budget — and did so without even a raised voice, much less a lively riot... Our failure to meet emission targets undermines our position too, as does our delusional rejection of water charges.