The Government admitted today that it would not meet a self-imposed target to reduce carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2010 - prompting a warning from the Archbishop of Canterbury that God will judge them for it.

In a rare foray into politics, Dr Rowan Williams warned political leaders that they would face "a heavy responsibility before God" if they failed to tackle the problem of global warming.

"Nobody likes talking about governmental coercion in this respect - whether it is speed limits or anything else. Nobody, for that matter, likes talking about enforceable international protocols," Dr Williams told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

"And yet, unless there is a real change in attitude, we have to contemplate these very unwelcome possibilities if we want the global economy not to collapse and millions, billions, of people not to die."

Far from attacking the Archbishop for his comments - which raised the intriguing prospect of ministers paying the price in the hereafter for their failings in office - Margaret Beckett, the Environment Secretary, appeared to accept his warning. She told the same programme: "I don’t think he is wrong."

Publishing a review of the UK's progress on cutting greenhouse gases, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said Britain had one of the best records of any country in dealing with the problem.

Defra also unveiled a new climate change programme that includes stricter emissions caps for industry, measures to encourage the use of biofuels in petrol, tighter building regulations and other measures to improve household energy efficiency.

But it admitted that it would fall short of its CO2 reduction target. Under the programme, CO2 levels would be cut by between 15 and 18 per cent on 1990 levels by 2010 - below the UK's target of 20 per cent, but well above the 12.5 per cent cut demanded by the 1990 Kyoto Protocol. The latest policies should reduce UK emissions of greenhouse gases by some 7 to 12 million tonnes.

The Government blamed the failure to meet the target on higher-than-anticipated levels of economic growth, and the recent rises in global energy prices which have altered the relative prices of coal and gas, leading to the use of more polluting fuels.

Mrs Beckett told Today: "We are not giving up on our 20 per cent target. What we are not able to do is say that we can set out the precise path to it today.

"We can certainly move a very long way towards it, and this is not the last word. We have drawn together as many of our proposals as we can into the review we will publish today, but there is more to come. That is why I say we are not giving up on our 20 per cent target."

Environmental campaigners attacked the Government's plans as "pathetic" and accused ministers of lacking the political will to tackle climate change.

Friends of the Earth pointed out that the 20 per cent target had been in all three Labour general election manifestos but emissions had actually risen by 3 per cent since Labour came to power and were only around 5 per cent below 1990 levels.

Tony Juniper, the group's director, said: "Tough action is needed to tackle climate change. But once again the Government has caved in to short-term political pressures and produced a totally inadequate response."

Meanwhile, Peter Ainsworth, the Shadow Environment Secretary, said that the review was "a grim admission of failure on what was meant to be one of Mr Blair’s top priorities".

He added: "This was an opportunity for Labour to show how they intend to lead the world, and they have missed it. Instead we get fudge and a photocall. There is nothing new in this review, just a series of recycled announcements. Ironically, there is nothing on recycling itself."

Tony Blair is due to give a detailed speech on the environment to a climate change conference in New Zealand in a few hours time.

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