Ed Miliband has reiterated his determination not to allow climate change deniers to influence government policy.

Climate change sceptics have spent the last few years denying that man is responsible for global warming, despite being short of evidence to back up their claims.

However, in recent months serious errors have been discovered in reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the claim that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035 has been found to be incorrect.

Climate change deniers have seized upon the developments as evidence that they are right, but Mr Miliband has dismissed their claims.

The climate change secretary told the Observer: "It's right that there's rigour applied to all the reports about climate change, but I think it would be wrong that when a mistake is made it's somehow used to undermine the overwhelming picture."

He added that the "vast majority of scientists" believe man-made climate change is taking place and insisted that taking the views of the sceptics seriously would be a "profound risk".

Mr Miliband's renewed support for the cause comes just weeks after the Environmental Audit Committee recommended that the government should try to achieve its emissions targets ahead of schedule in order to set an example to other countries.