"I was not demanding that people become vegetarians, but instead suggested that they should be aware that the more meat that they eat, the higher the emissions of greenhouse gases that are implied by their diets," Lord Stern wrote in a letter to The Times of London.

"It is in this sense of lower emissions (and lower water use) that less meat is ‘better’ for the planet."

The Times earlier quoted the author of the influential 2006 Stern Review on the economics of climate change as saying that "meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases", and "a vegetarian diet is better".

The report brought angry reactions from livestock farming groups in the United Kingdom and abroad, all of whom are feeling the heat from multi-pronged attacks on the environmental and ethical integrity of livestock farming.

In his letter, Lord Stern said it would be "extremely counter-productive" to dictate consumer choice.

However, he urged that food prices should reflect "the real costs of future climate change impacts from emitting greenhouse gases during production”.

"Thus people should have low-carbon alternatives among the products and services on offer to them, whether it is electricity, heating, transport or food, and they should be provided with the information that allows them to make informed decisions about all aspects of their consumption, not just what they eat."