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

Of the world’s 20 biggest fossil fuels companies, 16 are state-owned and were responsible for 52% of global emissions in 2023. Composite: The New York Public Library / The Guardian

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.