Conservatives want "green growth", rather than restricting people's lifestyles to help the environment, party leader David Cameron has said.
He said economic expansion and cutting greenhouse gases were compatible.
He told the BBC people had to accept a "shared responsibility" to cut emissions. It would be a "mistake" to tell people to travel less, he added.
The three main parties should all work together to agree a strategy which could continue whoever was in power.
Nurses and head teachers
Mr Cameron has set up a series of policy groups, including one on green issues chaired by former environment secretary John Gummer.
The comments come after the Conservatives outlined a list of core values on Tuesday, including putting economic stability before tax cuts, helping the least well-off, support for fair trade and making government "closer to the people".
Mr Cameron is to ask the party's 250,000-plus members to agree to these.
He told Today that public sector workers, such as nurses, doctors and head teachers, needed more freedom.
Local government also needed more autonomy from Whitehall, he added.
He said of Labour: "They tend not to trust people... they think government has all the answers."
The education bill, giving more power to schools and parents, was "the opposite of what Labour tend to do", Mr Cameron said: "They are trying to trust people a little bit... and that's why I'm prepared to back it".
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