Former prime minister Tony Blair has called for a reset of the UK's "irrational" net zero policies which he says are "doomed to fail".
In a scathing attack on policies, Blair said financial sacrifices and lifestyle changes the public are being asked to make would have a "minimal" impact on global emission levels.
The ex Labour prime minister, The Times reports, said efforts to phase out fossil fuels in the short term were "doomed to fail" and that production and demand were rising - something he called "inconvenient facts".
His comments ruffled feathers among the Labour government, with fears they could give opposition parties a boost.
One Labour source told The Times Blair's comments amounted to a "public tantrum".
Dan McGrail, interim chief executive of GB Energy, said the UK’s current climate policy framework gave investors a stable environment compared with other countries, adding: “When you think about that, resets, stops, massive changes or 180-degree changes in strategy are deeply unhelpful."
Blair's comments came in a foreword to a report from his think tank and warn policies adopted due to pressure from climate activist groups are "distorting the debate into a quest for a climate platform that is unrealistic and therefore unworkable”.
He said: “Political leaders by and large know that the debate has become irrational. But they’re terrified of saying so, for fear of being accused of being ‘climate deniers’.”
The former PM called on politicians to adopt more "pragmatic" policies and focus on using technology to combat emissions.
Blair wrote: “People know that the current state of debate over climate change is riven with irrationality. As a result, though most people will accept that climate change is a reality caused by human activity, they’re turning away from the politics of the issue because they believe the proposed solutions are not founded on good policy.
“In developed countries, voters feel they’re being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know that their impact on global emissions is minimal. Whatever the historical responsibility of the developed world for climate change, those with even a cursory knowledge of the facts understand that in the future the major sources of pollution will come principally from the developing world."
He called for increased investment and research into carbon capture technology, adding: “The disdain for this technology in favour of the purist solution of stopping fossil-fuel production is totally misguided principally from the developing world.”