The groups say the event cannot be taken seriously when it is sponsored by corporations such as the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which provides finance to the coal industry.

The comedian Alistair McGowan has also decided to withdraw his endorsement of Climate Week. Even some of the young award winners are against the sponsorship of RBS, which has also invested in companies that are developing tar sands.

Campaigners Climate Rush grafittied a number of Tesco stores as ‘Tesco2’, in protest at the failure of another sponsor Tesco to do enough to cut carbon emissions. Activists shouted and held signs outside the launch of Climate Week at Lancaster House. They demanded to know what the for-profit event was really doing to tackle climate change?

Ironically, one of the polls commissioned for Climate Week found just 7 per cent of the British public believes claims made by companies that they are taking tough action to reduce carbon emissions

Do you think events like Climate Week can help tackle global warming?