The co-founder of Extinction Rebellion has caused fury by saying the Holocaust was "just another f***ery in human history".

In an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit, Roger Hallam said: "The fact of the matter is, millions of people have been killed in vicious circumstances on a regular basis throughout history."

The subject came up when he said during the interview that people should fight climate change with the same emotion as people regard Auschwitz, the largest Nazi camp where more than a million Jews were murdered.

Emotionality is the only way you can get people to do something," he said.

When the Die Zeit journalist suggested the Shoah was unique, he said: "There are various debates as to whether the Holocaust is unique or not. I know that that’s the conviction in Germany. But with all respect I don’t agree with it.”

He later tried to clarify his remarks, saying: "I want to fully acknowledge the unimaginable suffering caused by the Nazi Holocaust that led to all of Europe saying ‘never again’.

“But it is happening again, on a far greater scale and in plain sight. The global north is pumping lethal levels of CO₂ into the atmosphere and simultaneously erecting ever greater barriers to immigration, turning whole regions of the world into death zones.

"That is the grim reality.”

Extinction Rebellion UK issued a statement condemning Mr Hallam, who lives in Wales and was doing the interview to promote a book about to be published in Germany.

Its statement said: "Jewish people and many others are deeply wounded by the comments today. Internal conversations have begun with the XR conflict team about how to manage the conflict process that will address this issue.

“We stand by restorative outcomes as preferable, although in some cases exclusion is necessary … We stand in solidarity with XR Germany, with Jewish communities, and with all those affected by the Holocaust, both in the past and in our times.”

German Green politician Volker Beck wrote Mr Hallam "brings the clime change movement into disrepute".