The IME, whose members are responsible for building the UK’s largest infrastructure projects, insists that in order to meet its commitments the country must develop a “war-time” mentality towards the issue of climate change.

The IME says the government is currently long on promises and hopelessly short on action. The group proposes the creation of a Department of Energy and Climate Security, which would act in the same capacity as a war cabinet by co-ordinating actions across the entire government.

In 2008 the UK’s Parliament approved the Climate Change Act, which demands emissions cuts of 80% by 2050 over the 1990 level. In order to meet that target, the IME estimates that by 2030 the UK must halve its energy consumption, while building 27,000 wind turbines and 16 nuclear plants.

Another 13,000 turbines would then need to go up by 2050, while also bringing monumental amounts of biomass, solar, waste-to-energy, tidal and wave projects on line, in addition to building a nationwide smart grid.

“A realistic date to achieve the 2050 targets, based on current policy, is 2100 at the earliest – some 50 years later than targeted,” the IME says. “By this time, climate change in the world will create social, economic and environmental tensions which could spark regional conflict and possible loss of life.”

While backing strong continued efforts across the renewables space, the IME also suggests large-scale research into geo-engineering solutions to climate change, or finding artificial ways of lowering the Earth’s atmospheric temperature.

The IME highlights three of the most promising geo-engineering options – artificial trees, algae-coated buildings, and reflective buildings.

Artificial trees are machines which, like trees, would hoover carbon-dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The CO2 would then be buried underground using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. The UK would require 100,000 such trees, each one absorbing 10 tonnes of CO2 each day, in order to neutralise its emissions.

Covering buildings with algae-coated strips, which naturally absorb CO2 through photosynthesis, is also a workable option, the IME says, while making ultra-reflective building exteriors would lower the heating effect of the sun’s rays.