For most of us facing gridlocked roads and packed trains, the Monday morning commute is a more pressing concern than climate change.

But there may be a single solution to both, according to business leaders.

The Institute of Directors is calling for flexible hours and more home working to help tackle global warming.

Miles Templeman, the institute's director-general, said offering employees greater flexibility would ease pressure on transport networks and cut rush-hour power demand - thereby reducing emissions. Mr Templeman urged ministers not to rush into policies that risked harming the economy, such as caps on emissions and carbon taxes.

Speaking ahead of the institute's annual convention later this week, he criticised the Government over its "ideological" approach to climate change.

"The politicians are still hooked up on this global leadership on climate change, which has become a political bandwagon," he said. "You can see all the politicians trying to out-green each other. There is a danger they will damage competitiveness and companies will move jobs to other countries."

His comments come weeks after Chris Gibson Smith, the chairman of the London Stock Exchange, said the Government's policies on climate change risked damaging British business.

He said Britain could not tackle climate change on its own and carbon emission penalties put the country's competitive edge at risk.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "The UK environmental industry is already a success story and worth some £25 billion annually.

"Boosting energy efficiency makes good financial sense for business and also helps cut carbon emissions."