Bestselling author Bjorn Lomborg says the vast majority of carbon emissions are coming from poor countries who can’t afford to cut them down just to feel good, and this is where Joe Biden’s climate plan would come in useful.

Democratic candidate Joe Biden recently outlined a 110-page $2 trillion climate plan charting the United States on an irreversible path to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“I think most people don’t get the idea of the size of the challenge that we’re really faced with,” Mr Lomborg told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“Remember if everyone in the rich world stopped all of their CO2 emissions tomorrow and stayed shut down for the rest of the century, it would reduce temperatures by the end of the century by just 0.4 degrees.

“That’s because the vast majority of emissions are going to come from China, India, Africa, Latin America, all the poor countries in this world and they are not going to cut down their carbon emissions just to feel good, they can’t afford that.

“We’re only going to solve this problem if we innovate clean, cheap, green energy that everyone will want to have and would have to suffer in order to have.

“That’s where Biden’s climate promise can actually come true.”