The US needs to unleash "the greatest concentration of economic activity since we mobilised" for the second world war by embracing new energy technology and regulatory incentives to tackle global warming, according to Bill Clinton, former US president.

Speaking to the Financial Times on the eve of the Clinton Global Initiative - the annual New York conference of the former president's business philanthropy group - Mr Clinton disputed the view that tackling climate change would cut economic growth. He contradicted a recent United Nations report that said tackling global warming would involve economic sacrifice.