Green campaigners and politicians must stop making people feel guilty if they want to change attitudes to action on climate change, the Science and Innovation Minister said.

Pessimistic messages about the personal sacrifices required to cut carbon emissions could alienate those whose support was essential to tackling the issue, Lord Drayson told The Times.

The austere rhetoric of environmentalists who lectured people for excessive driving or flying had convinced many that reducing the size of their carbon footprint was too much like hard work, he said. The prospect of a lower quality of life was unattractive.

“Less emphasis on telling people they have to stop doing many of the things they like — an almost puritanical argument that, for climate change to be addressed, growth has to stop and our quality of life has to decline. I don’t accept that. More importantly, it won’t work.”

Lord Drayson, wants scientists, environmentalists and politicians to explain that many aspects of a greener lifestyle involve just small changes, come with few costs and might even save money.

“I personally don’t believe it is going to be possible to persuade the vast majority of people to accept a poorer quality of life,” he said. “I do think it’s possible to convince people they will be able to maintain a standard of quality of life more sustainably.”

“It’s about using what motivates people, it’s about marketing, tapping into that. It’s about motivating people because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it’ll improve their lives. It’s about investing in the framework, the infrastructure that enables people. If you’ve got the bins around that enable people to separate their rubbish, generally they will do it.”

Lord Drayson makes a very pertinent point about delivering change in people’s attitudes towards the environment: it is not about bullying people into respecting the environment, but giving them the options to make practical choices about how they can change their lifestyle so that it benefits themselves, the environment and also company economics.

Improvements to company transport strategies can have a positive impact on both the environment and the bottom line of the balance sheet. In a lot of cases, simple measures that promote the use of public transport and cycling to work can cost very little and deliver savings on both the economic and environmental front. One of the best ways to initiate change in your companies transport strategy is through a travel plan.