A young French minister who provoked a political storm by branding her male colleagues as cowardly has defended herself by describing the women in President Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet as more “original” than the men.

Sometimes described as one of the brainiest women in government, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, 34, the junior environment minister, catapulted herself into the limelight earlier this month by accusing senior party members of “cowardice” in their policy towards genetically modified crops, which she firmly opposes.

It was the latest in a series of embarrassments for the government and in the ensuing uproar she was struck from a list of guests accompanying the prime minister on a visit to Japan.

The public has rallied around the “green Sarkozette” – according to one poll, 80% agreed with her stand – and she has not been tempted to alter her opinion of male politicians. Far from it.

“They make you feel that they’ve been there since the dawn of time and that the women’s presence is less legitimate,” she said in an interview over lunch in her ministry last week.

Warming to her theme, she went on: “There is more variety of character in the women than in the men. The men are more traditional but the women bring more originality, even if they are not necessarily the easiest of characters.”

Originality certainly seems to be an attribute of Kosciusko-Morizet, a science graduate from an illustrious political family of Polish origin which has produced ambassadors, senators, mayors and a member of the wartime resistance.

She chose to do her military service in a naval outpost off the coast of Djibouti and her harp-playing and horsemanship have also helped her to stand out from the crowd.

The “cowardice” incident was not the first time that she had attracted the wrath of her colleagues: she was attacked for planting a kiss on the cheek of José Bové, the antiglobalisation campaigner who has spent the past few years in and out of jail for destroying genetically modified crops.

Kosciusko-Morizet claimed that a male politician who kissed a female activist would not have caused such a fuss and besides, she said, “I have never asked permission, even from my father, to kiss anyone.”

Battling to shore up his crumbling approval rating one year after coming to power, Sarkozy went on television last week complaining about “young ministers” such as Kosciusko-Morizet speaking out of turn and warning that he would not forgive the next indiscretion.

However much he approves in private of the verve of his “environmental muse”, as Kosciusko-Morizet has been called, he has been accused of “reverse machismo” in his indulgence of women ministers and there has been grumbling in the ranks of the party.

Rama Yade, the 31-year-old undersecretary for human rights, has twice put her foot in it with impunity, most recently when she contradicted government policy by attaching conditions to Sarkozy’s participation in the Olympic Games opening ceremony this summer in Beijing.

Kosciusko-Morizet dismissed allegations of favouritism, however. “The men try to make us think there are favourites,” she said, “but if there was so much favouritism there would be more than 18% women in the national assembly. Our political life needs more biodiversity.”

She insisted nevertheless that “Sarko”, who married Carla Bruni, the top model and folk singer, in February and who has packed his cabinet with women to fulfil a campaign promise to promote sexual equality in government, was more advanced than most other male politicians when it came to dealings with women.

“Many male politicians often have difficulty working with women, and difficulty accepting women as legitimate partners in political life,” she said.

“But he [Sarkozy] thinks that women’s presence is perfectly normal. He doesn’t have any problems working with women. In France that does not make him part of the majority.”

Kosciusko-Morizet, who is married with a two-year-old son, is just as passionate about environmental issues as she is about putting women into power. She switched the Peugot 607 that came with her job for a less polluting, and much smaller, Peugeot 308.

“When I go to official functions,” she said with a laugh, “the security agents often don’t recognise it as a minister’s car.”

A former environmental adviser in the government of Jacques Chirac, she became an MP in 2002 and has made it her priority to promote more awareness of how environmental issues affect health.

“I think we’re behind other countries in this regard,” Kosciusko-Morizet said. “It was when I was pregnant with my son that I realised how little information there was.

“When you say to a doctor, I’ve got a young child, I live in an urban zone and want to take him out every day but I’m afraid of pollution, is it better in the morning or evening, the doctor hasn’t a clue.” She went on: “At the gynaecologist you’ve got all these leaflets telling you to be careful about various foods and so on but nothing about the environment and health.”

She tries to practise what she preaches: “I like to have bio food. I take care of the quality of air. And the baby’s intercom should not be too close to his head.”

Another issue to absorb her attention is the melting of the world’s glaciers. “Experts say now that it is going two to three times faster than we thought and that some of the big ones will have disappeared by 2020 or 2030,” she said.

Apart from encouraging flooding and drought in countries such as India, this could also kill off the European winter sports industry.

“To buy a chalet at this moment on a 25-year mortgage thinking that you’ll be able to go every year to practise winter sports is pure folly,” she said.

As for Sarkozy’s dwindling popularity, she said the French were impatient for change.

“People voted for change by electing Sarkozy,” she said. “Now they’re saying: when is it changing, when are we going to see the results?”

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