London (PTI): Climate change could cause global conflicts as large as the two world wars and last for centuries unless adequate measures are taken to deal with it, a leading defence think thank has said.

A ten-fold increase in research spending, comparable to the amount spent on the Apollo space programme, will be required if the world is to avoid the worst effects of changing temperatures, the Royal United Services Institute said in a report.

Conflicts across the globe due to the climate change could be as devastating as the previous two world wars, it said.

It warned that countries underestimated the potential conflicts stemming from climate change and must invest heavily to correct the mistake.

Nick Mabey, author of the report, said the world's response to the threats posed by climate change, such as rising sea levels and migration, had so far been "slow and inadequate" because nations had failed to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

"Climate impacts will force us into a radical rethink of how we identify and secure our national interests," he said.

"Our energy and climate security will increasingly depend on stronger alliances with other large energy consumers, such as China, to develop and deploy new energy technologies, and less on relations with oil producing states", he added.