Chris Goodall, the Christian author of How to Live a Low-Carbon Life, has argued that it is financial institutions and Britain's highest earners that must take prime responsibility for challenging the effects of global warming.
He made his comments at the most recent JustShare debate at St Mary-le-Bow church in the City of London - 'Fools Gold: can Financial Services Undo Climate Change?'
He pointed to research suggesting those in the top 20 per cent of Britain's income bracket use five times more carbon than the poorest 20 per cent, he said the onus for change "is most certainly on the world's richest consumers".
On average, each British individual currently has carbon emissions of 12.5 tonnes per year, a figure Mr Goodall said individuals must reduce to between 1 and 0.5 tonnes per year. But he also criticised the Government for putting too much responsibility on individual efforts, and not enough on providing longer-term solutions to the problem of climate change.
"Market forces are still focused on short term profits," he argued, "and Government intervention is needed to shift this focus onto providing real, lasting solutions to climate change.
"Price mechanisms such as carbon tax don't go anywhere near far enough. They are insufficient to curb consumption or provide incentives for innovation in low-carbon technologies."
The British Government could do far more to change the situation he said, questioning its apparent reluctance to do so.
"For instance, sufficient tidal power can be generated in 24 hours in just one bay off the coast of Scotland to power the whole of London, yet government and private investors seem not to be interested in financing the infrastructure," he said.
