Second World War-style rationing of petrol, household energy and meat could help to fight climate change, British scientists have recommended.

Researchers from Leeds said that rationing would help countries to cut their carbon emissions “rapidly and fairly” even though it was often seen as an “unpalatable” option.

Making a comparison with the need to limit the consumption of certain goods as they grew scarce during the war, researchers noted that the idea of achieving this by increasing taxes was rejected in the 1940s because “the impact of tax rises would be slow and inequitable”. Their study, published in the journal Ethics, Policy & Environment, noted: “Rationing has been neglected as a climate change mitigation policy option.”

It added that rationing was widely accepted in Britain