Policy to deal with climate change is like primitive people killing goats to appease volcano gods, former prime minister Tony Abbott has told an audience in Britain overnight.

Key points: Former PM says climate change is "probably doing good"

Former PM says climate change is "probably doing good" "There must not be" a clean energy target, Mr Abbott says

"There must not be" a clean energy target, Mr Abbott says Consequences of climate action are becoming "increasingly dire", he says

Mr Abbott has argued that "at least so far it is climate change policy that is doing harm; climate change itself is probably doing good — or at least more good than harm".

"In most countries far more people die in cold snaps than in heatwaves, so a gradual lift in global temperatures, especially if it is accompanied by more prosperity and more capacity to adapt to change might even be beneficial," he told the Global Warming Policy Foundation in the United Kingdom in a speech called Daring to Doubt.

The Federal Government has signalled it may not adopt chief scientist Alan Finkel's recommendation for a clean energy target (CET) and Mr Abbott has insisted in the speech that "there must not be" a CET.

Mr Abbott said environmentalism combined a "post-socialist instinct for big government with a post-Christian nostalgia for making sacrifices in a good cause".

"Primitive people once killed goats to appease the volcano gods, we are more sophisticated now but are still sacrificing our industries and our living standards to the climate gods to little more effect," he said.

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Mr Abbott dismissed the argument that a large majority of scientists argue that the science of climate change is settled, saying "the claim that 99 per cent of scientists believe" is "as if scientific truth is determined by votes rather than facts".

He again outlined his opposition to renewable power by arguing it was possible to have "too much of a good thing".

"The only rational choice is to put Australian jobs and Australia's standard of living first; to get emissions down but only as far as we can without putting prices up," the former prime minister said, arguing anything else would be a "dereliction of duty as well as a political death wish".

He described the reality of climate change as very modest but the consequences of the policy to deal with it as "increasingly dire".

Sorry, this video has expired Full speech: Tony Abbott says dealing with climate change is like "primitive people" killing goats

Abbott 'calling the policy shots'

The ABC's London bureau was not allowed in the venue to hear the speech or to report on it.

It was told the speech was a "non-media event".

However, Mr Abbott has tweeted a link to the full text of the speech.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson responded on Twitter by calling Mr Abbott "an embarrassment".

Federal Labor's treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said the speech was spectacular evidence that Mr Abbott thinks "we can put our head in the sand" and pretend climate change is not happening.

"It is 2017 and we have got a former PM overseas denying the science of climate change and … he is calling the shots on the policy of Australia," he said.

"I mean, he is an effective handbrake on the elected prime minister stopping any sensible policy progress when it comes to climate change and energy."

He said there has been a "catastrophic failure by Malcolm Turnbull to stand up to the climate deniers in his party".

But Liberal MP Craig Kelly told Sky News "the point that Tony makes is 100 per cent correct".

Mr Kelly said no matter what Australia does about its greenhouse gas emissions, "it is not going to change the weather, it is not going to change the temperature of the globe, it is not going to prevent bad storms".

When asked if he backed Mr Abbott's view that climate change is doing more good than harm, Mr Kelly said up to two degrees of warming would benefit world GDP.

"The only adverse effects happen after you get above two degrees of warming," he said.

He said extra carbon dioxide had meant more plant life and contributed to what he called "global greening".

Mr Abbott's overnight speech highlights his changing position on the issue over the years.

It contradicts what he said in 2014 at the G20 summit in Brisbane.

He said then that "Australia has always believed that climate change is real, that humanity makes a contribution and that strong and effective action against it should be taken".

But his London remarks echo remarks to a public meeting in Victoria in 2009 where he said the settled science on climate change was "absolute crap".

Government risks 'driving into a brick wall' without CET

Mr Abbott's intervention further complicates the Government's bid to finalise an energy policy this year.

Federal Energy and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg is now stopping short of committing to a CET.

But Oliver Yates, the former head of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, warned the Federal Government it needed a CET.

Mr Yates said without the policy, power would be less reliable because older coal-fired power stations would be kept in use longer and then fail because of their age.

"The old clunkers will probably continue operating and there could be a hiatus in the construction of renewable energy," Mr Yates told RN Breakfast.

"Then what will happen is those old 50-year power stations will suddenly fall over, they will fall over in unpredictable ways and cause massive power shortages.

"By not having a target to get from one form of energy to another or to replace your capacity with new capacity, you are actually driving down a road directly into a brick wall and that is what you will do if you do not have a target."