Britain will not be able to meet prime minister Boris Johnson’s call to “consign coal to history and shift to clean energy sources” unless it invests more in nuclear power, the London-based Nuclear Industry Association said.

Mr Johnson made his comments following publication on Monday of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climate change that said many of the changes being seen in the climate are unprecedented and findings in the report are “a code red for humanity”.

Mr Johnson described the latest warnings from UN scientists about the extent of the climate crisis as “sobering reading” that should provide the world with a wake-up call ahead of the Cop26 summit.