Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has told a sidelines event at major climate talks in Paris that fossil fuels will be critical to reducing poverty and hunger for years to come.
Speaking at an Indonesian event on transitioning to a low carbon economy, Ms Bishop said fossil fuels like coal would remain a significant part of the global energy mix for the "foreseeable future".
"Barring some technological breakthrough, fossil fuels will remain critical to promoting prosperity, growing economies, alleviating hunger for years to come," she told the event in Paris on Tuesday.
The foreign minister warned the transition to a greener economy promised to be "as profound a change as other great upheavals in history".
However, she noted the transformation was already underway and called on governments to nurture innovation.
While spruiking Australia's renewable energy target - which the government slashed last year - Ms Bishop also heralded the 15 per cent of households using rooftop solar panels.
That was the largest per capita use anywhere in the world, she said.
Technological breakthroughs would aid the transition to a low carbon economy, Ms Bishop said, with business to play an important role in commercialisation.
"Our government will rely heavily on private sector, NGOs and individuals to deliver our sustainable national target and to transition towards a green economy," she said.
"The role of government is to balance competing interests."
The message differed somewhat to fellow speaker and former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who said it was politicians who had the most work to do on climate change.
"Without strong political will at the top, the country would have inadequate climate policies," he said.
"It must be the highest political agenda of the country's highest office."
He urged the transition from "greed economies" - which had plagued his country for decades - to "green economies".
"Any scheme driven by greed is bound to fail," he said.
"As we struggle with the climate crisis greed economy must give way to green economy."
Mr Yudhoyono, who was speaking as the president of the Global Green Growth Institute, agrees innovation and technological game changers will play a vital role in tackling the "climate crisis".
"But the clock is ticking," he said.
"Three decades is not a long time, it is a blink in the eye of history."
He urged developed countries to honour their commitment to mobilising $100 billion each year for climate finance by 2020 but also told poorer countries to start noticing investment opportunities.
The former president reflected on his lack of education over climate and said it wasn't until a major climate summit in Bali in 2007 that the weight of the problem dawned on him.
Educating young people was vital, he said.
"Now I will make sure that these are the first thing my three grandchildren know about as they learn the way of the world."
Ministers are in Paris for the final week of negotiations, which are hoped to produce a historic agreement between 196 parties to curb emissions and limit global warming.
Some scientists suggest around 90 per cent of Australian and US coal would need to remain in the ground to limit warming to 2C.
