A senior rabbi is one of 11 people mounting a legal challenge to get the government to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050.

Rabbi Jeffrey Newman, emeritus rabbi of Finchley Reform Synagogue, is a member of Plan B + 11 Citizens which is suing the government over its current target, an 80 per cent emissions cut over the next 30 years.

The group claim the government’s current policy is too weak to protect the climate and not in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom had promised a 100 per cent emissions reduction to keep the UK on track with its obligations under the Paris deal.

But Plan B + 11 Citizens, which filed a suit in the High Court earlier this month, is concerned that the commitment has not been enshrined in law.

Rabbi Newman, 75, said: “The government has decided to maintain a carbon target not in line with the Paris Agreement.

“I am a rabbi, so speak out of Jewish tradition and practice.

“There is no doubt that the UK has been a leader, particularly with the 2008 Climate Change Act, but the evidence that I have read recently suggests that there is an urgent need for the revision of targets.”

Rabbi Newman called on Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to increase the UK’s 2050 carbon target in line with the Paris Agreement.

The rabbi said: “Our deepest and growing conviction is that the governments of the world are doing too little too late.

“In particular, the evidence of rising sea levels, global warming, extreme weather events, are already affecting the most vulnerable across the globe.

“I do not want my grandchildren to live through the devastation that might be caused throughout the world without my attempting to do all I can.”

The group has raised more than £12,000 of the £35,000 needed to cover the costs of the legal challenge.