He conceded the money was not additional spending, and would be drawn from the existing foreign aid budget. Australian Council for International Development chief executive Marc Purcell, whose organisation is the peak body for the nation's overseas aid organisations, said Australia already spends close to $200 million a year on climate change aid. A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed the government spent about $155 million last financial year on climate resilience programs and $70 million towards the UN's Green Climate Fund. Mr Purcell described Mr Turnbull's announcement as "deeply disappointing" and said he was "repackaging announcements". "Let's be clear – this is not new money. This is spending that has already been announced," he said.

"While we welcome the government acknowledging the climate change challenges faced by our Asia-Pacific neighbours, this announcement lacks any ambition." Mr Turnbull has been under pressure from right-wing elements of the government to limit Australia's commitment to climate change action in Paris. Ms Bishop on Monday told Parliament the government would not budge on its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions. She said the government also intended to abolish a number of agencies including the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which encourages emerging clean energy technology, despite Mr Turnbull telling world leaders Australia would meet the climate challenge through "innovation". Mr Purcell said the government should increase spending on climate change aid and development programs to $550 million a year and develop a comprehensive climate change strategy for the aid program. The $1 billion includes $200 million over four years the government has already pledged for the Green Climate Fund.

World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello said the government has slashed $11.3 billion from foreign aid and more would be cut in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook this month. He called for the funding to be restored, which would allow an increase in climate aid spending, adding "the rest of the world scratch their head" that a rich nation like Australia was dramatically reducing foreign aid. Acting Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek said the government had provided "no new money for no new policies" and was using funds from a "much depleted" aid budget. "This is pretty rich considering that we have actually cut funding to countries like Kiribati, that are currently struggling with climate change adaptation and mitigation – in fact we've cut $2.5 million dollars from Kiribati," she said. Greens deputy leader and climate spokeswoman Larissa Waters said Mr Turnbull had tried to repackage money taken from the foreign aid budget as "a gesture of generosity".

"His announcement was in complete contrast to the spirit of the Paris conference where we have seen countries like Canada, France and Germany significantly scale up their contributions to meet the climate challenge," Ms Waters said in a statement from Paris. On Tuesday Ms Bishop said the aid budget was designed to "assist in natural disaster relief, to build resilience against natural disasters. Indeed this is what the small island developing nations of the Pacific are asking for." Follow us on Twitter