Environmentalists have given a cool reception to claims that international climate change agreements will fail.

The protests came after the Institute for Public Policy Research said the Kyoto agreement was flawed and stood little chance of success.

A new approach is needed based on sound science and social justice, not political horse-trading, said the IPPR.

The think tank claimed equal ownership of the atmosphere will be a vital step in tackling global warming.

Even with full implementation, the IPPR claimed the Kyoto deal signed by world leaders in 1997 shows no sign of delivering the drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions needed to halt global warming.

"The protocol is based on horse-trading between nations, not fair shares of emissions rights, and two major industrial nations, America and Australia, have opted out," the report said.

"Kyoto will not stop climate change. The next international climate change negotiations must agree on a safe level of emissions in the long term and fair shares between nations," said Tony Grayling of the IPPR.

"In practice, this should mean contraction of global emissions and convergence towards equal per capita emissions rights. This approach also has a better chance of bringing America, Australia and the developing nations on board."

In response, environment secretary Margaret Beckett accepted that opting to take no action was not an option.

"Given the dire consequences and irreversibility of climate change, we should be guided by the precautionary approach," she said.

The Green Party said the government had a duty to act.

"We've heard all this before. Tony Blair has made a number of speeches saying climate change would be a disaster, but he still puts far more effort into things that promote climate change than things that help stop it," said party spokesman Professor John Whitelegg."New Labour has completely failed to grasp that 60 per cent global reductions means a 90 per cent reduction in high-polluting countries like the UK.

"Blair also failed to persuade President Bush to ratify Kyoto, although he completely supported Bush's war to safeguard the oil supplies needed by the world's biggest and most irresponsible polluter."