FOR most people, the consequences of climate change are dismissed as being so far in the future that it's not worth losing sleep over.

But yesterday's report, entitled Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change, is another wake-up call to the world that it cannot afford to sit back and let future generations deal with the legacy of global warming.

It is true that predictions on climate change vary wildly. One minute it seems we are all doomed, and the next there is a ray of hope.

There is no doubt that the world is changing, both geographically and in climate terms. But, for all the scientific debate taking place, no-one really knows to what extent our lives will be affected.

We must therefore prepare for the worst case scenario because that is what we may well be faced with.

All of us can and should play a part in our daily lives and the UK Government has to put its own house in order too.

Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett warned yesterday that the world was in danger of reaching the "tipping point" beyond which climate change would become irreversible.

And yet the Government's own strategy for dealing with this truly momentous issue is overdue.

Britain has to at least reaffirm its commitment to cutting carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2010 and by 60 per cent by 2050.

And it must play a leading role in pushing other countries in the right direction - before it is too late.