Environment Minister Greg Hunt insists the government has achieved value for money at its first auction of its $2.55 billion climate change policy.

The government purchased 47 million tonnes of abatement at the first auction of the emissions reduction fund last week, costing $660 million.

Mr Hunt says the government has been able to reduce emissions at 1.1 per cent of the cost of Labor's now defunct carbon tax.

"I do care, deeply, passionately, absolutely, about value for money for taxpayers ... not whacking tax payers with a massive electricity and gas tax," he told Network Ten on Sunday.

But Greens Leader Christine Milne described the Direct Action scheme as a "disaster", saying it was not much abatement for a quarter of the fund.

She said part of the auction paid to avoid the deforestation of parts of NSW, but it would have been cheaper to buy the land.

"None of this is reducing emissions in the electricity sector and that is where a transformation shift has to change. That is our biggest source of pollution in the big coal-filled generators," she told Sky News.