The Warsaw climate summit is the first major round of United Nations climate change negotiations since the Abbott government took office. Countries are normally represented by ministers in the second week of major climate meetings. Greg Hunt. Credit:John Woudstra The negotiations through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are centred on hammering out a new international agreement to limit global greenhouse gas emissions. The new agreement is due to be finished at a meeting in Paris in 2015 and come into force from 2020. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has remit over the international climate change negotiations in the Abbott government. But her office confirmed the she would not be at the Warsaw climate talks, with Ms Bishop instead attending the coming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations. A spokesman for Environment Minister Greg Hunt also indicated he would not be attending the talks.

Mr Hunt's spokesman said the "international negotiations are a matter for the Foreign Minister. Australia will be represented at [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] [Conference of the Parties] negotiations in Warsaw." "Minister Hunt indicated a month ago at the Sustainable Business Australia forum that he will be fully engaged in repealing the carbon tax during the first two weeks of Parliament." Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning in Sydney, Mr Hunt said the Australian delegation to the UN climate summit would seek a "deep, strong international agreement". It is understood the Australian climate change ambassador Dr Justin Lee will lead the delegation. The Deputy chief executive of the Climate Institute, Erwin Jackson, said the move not to send a minister to the high-level climate talks was "highly unusual''.

"If you are not at the table, you are on the menu at these climate talks. Not having a ministerial representative would undermine our ability to represent our national interest," he said. The key issue now, he said, was the strength of the mandate given to the climate ambassador to reconfirm Australia's commitment to the full range of emissions reduction targets and international obligations. In 2001, the environment minister, Robert Hill, did not attend the UN climate summit meeting in Marrakesh as it fell during the campaigning period for that year’s federal election. Under the Gillard government, then climate change minister Greg Combet did not attend last year's Doha UN climate summit. But the government was represented by then parliamentary secretary for climate change Mark Dreyfus. Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt said it was appalling that the senior ministers were skipping the Warsaw summit.

Loading “Instead of sitting in his office reading Wikipedia, Greg Hunt should be in Warsaw tackling global warming and talking to the world’s experts on climate change,” Mr Bandt said. “Action speaks louder than words and, once again, the climate denialism of the Abbott government is clear from their inaction.”