Prof Lovelock, the man behind the Gaia theory which says that the planet behaves like a single organism, claimed humans were “not clever enough” to handle the problems associated with global warming.
In an interview, the globally respected environmental thinker and independent scientist applauded “good” climate sceptics and gave warning that global warming would one day lead to severe conflict.
"I don't think we're yet evolved to the point where we're clever enough to handle as complex a situation as climate change," he said.
"The inertia of humans is so huge that you can't really do anything meaningful.”
Prof Lovelock, 90, said he believed the best hope to combat climate change was to invest in adaptation measures, such as building defences around cities vulnerable to sea-level rises.
Only a catastrophic event would persuade humans that the threat of climate change was serious. He has previously warned that a rapid cutback in greenhouse gas emissions could speed up global warming.
He gave one example of how the collapse of a giant glacier in Antarctica, which would immediately push up sea levels, would wreck havoc across the world.
Without change, he said, climate change would likely one day lead to war.
“Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being,” he said in his interview with The Guardian.
“I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.”
The controversial scientist is best known for his ideas that portray Earth as a living thing, a superorganism – named Gaia, after the ancient Earth goddess – in which creatures, rocks, air and water interact in subtle ways to ensure the environment remains stable.
