Lifestyle changes key to fighting global warming

Taking the train to work instead of driving, turning the temperature up a degree or two on the office air conditioner and eating less meat are just some of the options to consider in the fight against global warming, they said.

Lifestyle change was one key issue highlighted in a landmark report released here on Friday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that looked at ways to save the world from the worst impacts of global warming.

"Changes in lifestyle and behaviour patterns can contribute to climate change mitigation across all sectors," said the final report, which was agreed on by delegates from 120 nations at the week-long IPCC meeting.

But the experts said lifestyle changes did not mean people in rich or poor nations had to suffer or go without.

"It's not a matter of sacrifice. It's a matter of change. We can do development in a much more sustainable way than we have done in the past," said Ogunlade Davidson, a co-chair of the IPCC working group.

"You can achieve a low greenhouse gas emission lifestyle and still get the same economic benefits."

IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri called on people to follow former US president Jimmy Carter's call in the 1970s for people use less heating at home during the winter, and instead wear a cardigan.