One of Britain’s leading climate change sceptics – former Chancellor Nigel Lawson – has admitted that humans are causing global warming.

Speaking to the House of Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee, Lord Lawson said he did not “question for a moment” that carbon dioxide was a greenhouse gas.

And he accepted there was “huge agreement” among scientists that it was having “some effect” on the atmosphere.

Join Independent Minds For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month

But the former Conservative Cabinet minister argued it would be “crazy” for the UK to try to stop burning the fossil fuels that produce carbon dioxide, claiming countries like China were simply carrying on doing so.

Lord Lawson founded the Global Warming Policy Foundation in 2009 to oppose attempts to reduce the rise in temperatures and has emerged as one of Britain’s leading sceptics.

But, unlike many “deniers” in the US, he made clear he accepted much of the basic science.

“I don’t question for a moment that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and that other things being equal this will lead to a warming of the atmosphere,” he told the Lords’ committee.

“It is true that scientists differ greatly on how big the effect is, but I think there’s a huge agreement there is some effect.”

However Lord Lawson argued Britain should stop trying to decarbonise the economy, claiming this would make little difference to the total global emissions and put the UK at an economic disadvantage to other parts of the world.

“We account for less than two per cent of global carbon emissions and so it’s crazy for us … we cannot do anything on our own,” he said.

He named China and India as two countries which he said had made clear they planned to continue using fossil fuels on a significant scale.

A report published earlier this year on investment in renewable energy generation found that China topped the international league table for renewables – not including large-scale hydro power – followed by the US, Japan, the UK and India.

It concluded that the developing world was now spending more than the developed world on renewables for the first time partly because the energy was “the most environmentally sound but also the cheapest option”.

Shape Created with Sketch. Climate change protests around the world Show all 25 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Climate change protests around the world 1/25 People rally to promote climate protection in Rome, Italy 2/25 Hundreds of demonstrators gather in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 3/25 People hold hands to form a human chain during a gathering called by ecologist organisations in Marseille, southern France, to protest against global warming a day ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris 4/25 Demonstrators clash with French riot police during protests on Place de la Republique, ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France 5/25 Demonstrators clash with French riot police during a protest on Place de la Republique ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France 6/25 A group of people perform during a rally to promote climate protection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7/25 A protester sits next to his sign that reads 'Monsanto the Devil Incorporated ' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 8/25 Environmentalists dance during a protest near the Place de la Republique after the cancellation of a planned climate march following shootings in the French capital, ahead of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France Reuters 9/25 People protest next to characters dressed as wild animals during a march against climate change near the Monument to the Revolution, in Mexico City AP 10/25 Protesters carries a banner while they take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters 11/25 People take part in a protest about climate change around New York City Hall at lower Manhattan, New York Reuters 12/25 People rally to promote climate protection in Piazza Castello, Turin, Italy 13/25 A woman holds a globe during a protest for the global climate day in Lugano, Switzerland 14/25 Yemenis hold banners as they participate in the Global March for Climate in the old city of Sanaía, Yemen 15/25 Protesters dressed as Santa Claus take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters 16/25 People gather at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, during the Global Climate March to demand action on climate change telling world leaders on the eve of a crunch UN summit that there is "no planet B". From Sydney to London, humid Rio to chilly New York, at least 683,000 hit the streets in 2,300 events across 175 countries at the weekend, co-organiser and campaign group Avaaz said, calling it the largest number of people to protest over climate change all at once Getty Images 17/25 18/25 Demonstrators participate in the Global March for Climate in Athens, Greece 19/25 A man wearing a Bernie Sanders mask leads hundreds of demonstrators who marched near City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 20/25 Patricia Hauser joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California 21/25 A woman holds a poster of a sick Earth as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 22/25 Hundreds of demonstrators march around City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 23/25 A demonstrator holds cut-out of US Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 24/25 George Patten holds a sign that reads 'No Fracking Ever!' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 25/25 Gabrielle Sosa wears 'Rising Sea Levels' sign as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 1/25 People rally to promote climate protection in Rome, Italy 2/25 Hundreds of demonstrators gather in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 3/25 People hold hands to form a human chain during a gathering called by ecologist organisations in Marseille, southern France, to protest against global warming a day ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris 4/25 Demonstrators clash with French riot police during protests on Place de la Republique, ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France 5/25 Demonstrators clash with French riot police during a protest on Place de la Republique ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France 6/25 A group of people perform during a rally to promote climate protection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7/25 A protester sits next to his sign that reads 'Monsanto the Devil Incorporated ' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 8/25 Environmentalists dance during a protest near the Place de la Republique after the cancellation of a planned climate march following shootings in the French capital, ahead of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France Reuters 9/25 People protest next to characters dressed as wild animals during a march against climate change near the Monument to the Revolution, in Mexico City AP 10/25 Protesters carries a banner while they take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters 11/25 People take part in a protest about climate change around New York City Hall at lower Manhattan, New York Reuters 12/25 People rally to promote climate protection in Piazza Castello, Turin, Italy 13/25 A woman holds a globe during a protest for the global climate day in Lugano, Switzerland 14/25 Yemenis hold banners as they participate in the Global March for Climate in the old city of Sanaía, Yemen 15/25 Protesters dressed as Santa Claus take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters 16/25 People gather at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, during the Global Climate March to demand action on climate change telling world leaders on the eve of a crunch UN summit that there is "no planet B". From Sydney to London, humid Rio to chilly New York, at least 683,000 hit the streets in 2,300 events across 175 countries at the weekend, co-organiser and campaign group Avaaz said, calling it the largest number of people to protest over climate change all at once Getty Images 17/25 18/25 Demonstrators participate in the Global March for Climate in Athens, Greece 19/25 A man wearing a Bernie Sanders mask leads hundreds of demonstrators who marched near City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 20/25 Patricia Hauser joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California 21/25 A woman holds a poster of a sick Earth as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 22/25 Hundreds of demonstrators march around City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 23/25 A demonstrator holds cut-out of US Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 24/25 George Patten holds a sign that reads 'No Fracking Ever!' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA 25/25 Gabrielle Sosa wears 'Rising Sea Levels' sign as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA

John Sauven, Greenpeace UK's executive director, said Lord Lawson’s comments demonstrated “quite a U-turn from someone who once called the scientific consensus on climate change ‘mumbo jumbo’ and extolled the virtues of pumping more carbon into the atmosphere”.

“With the impacts of climate change now playing out before our eyes, merchants of doubt like Lord Lawson are finding their dodgy wares ever harder to sell,” he said.

“Wheeling out the old argument that the UK shouldn’t go it alone on climate won’t be much help either. By ratifying the Paris climate deal, the US and China have debunked that myth too.

“Lord Lawson should now summon the courage to carry the argument through to its logical conclusion – that we need to act quickly to cut our dependence on fossil fuels and embrace clean energy.”

Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, suggested Lord Lawson was behind the times.

“In the last few years there’s been a massive turnaround in the seriousness with which major nations are treating climate change, stimulated both by growing evidence of impacts and the fast-changing economics of energy,” he said.

“Major economies are all reforming their energy systems, headed by China where the government has blocked new coal-fired plants in most provinces and is instead speeding ahead with wind, solar and nuclear investment.

“One result of this turnaround is that for the last two years, the global economy has grown but emissions have not – and the other is the Paris Agreement, made last December, under which every country will constrain its carbon emissions.

“The world is changing fast – and not everyone has caught up.”