REQUIRING fossil fuel companies to pay to clean up their carbon emissions could help curb dangerous global warming at a relatively affordable cost, a study revealed today.

The approach, which holds producers responsible for the waste generated by the products they sell, already exists in other areas such as plastic packaging or electrical goods.

Applying it to energy would mean that the emissions from all fossil fuels extracted or imported into a region, country or bloc would be offset by storing the same amount of carbon back underground.