In order to tackle climate change, many changes will have to be made in the lives of Britons.

"Every aspect of their lives must change", Environment Secretary David Miliband has said.

People will be required to respect the environment rather than abuse it, Mr Miliband said.

The government should consider harnessing tidal power, and investing in technology to make zero-carbon cars cheaper and more accessible, he said.

He was speaking to children aged nine to 12 for the First News newspaper.

"Every part of the way we work, go to school, the way we live is going to have to change.

"Not change for the worse, but change so that we live in a way that respects the environment rather than abuses it."

He also told the young journalists that the government would support developing countries as they too turned to green alternatives.

"They're worried that any decisions they'll make about the environment will compromise their ability to tackle poverty among their population.

"We have to show there will be money to follow going green and that's a really important part of the plan," Mr Miliband said.

The UK's Met Office recently reported that 2007 is likely to be the world's warmest year on record.

Resulting from an "El Nino" weather event in the Pacific Ocean, an extended warming period will push up global temperatures, experts forecast.

They say there is a 60 per cent chance that the average surface temperature will match or exceed the current record from 1998.

The global surface temperature is projected to be 0.54C (0.97F) above the long-term average of 14C (57F), beating the current record of 0.52C (0.94F), which was set in 1998.

In addition, the scientists revealed that 2006 saw the highest average temperature in the UK since records began in 1914.

The annual projection was compiled by the UK Met Office's Hadley Centre, in conjunction with the University of East Anglia.