Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's attendance at the United Nations climate change conference doesn't change Australia's "low ambition" to tackle the problem, Labor believes.
Mr Turnbull intends to head to Paris for the major global conference in December, armed with a 2030 emissions reduction target of 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels.
It's a target set by his predecessor Tony Abbott, who was widely predicted to skip the meeting after his government scrapped Labor's carbon tax and reduced Australia's renewable energy target.
Mr Turnbull has indicated no change to the Abbott government's direct action climate change policy, which pays polluters not to pollute and has been slammed for being expensive and ineffective.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is pleased the prime minister will represent Australia in Paris, but says symbolic attendance is not enough to stop global warming.
"It's not a question of what places you visit or what selfies you take when you visit places, it's a question of your actions," he told reporters in Alice Springs on Sunday.
"Whether or not Malcolm Turnbull goes to Paris or not is not going to stop global warming."
The government was selling Australians short with "low targets and low ambition", he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Shorten is hoping to make climate change front and centre of public debate in the lead up to the conference with a four-day trip to low-lying Pacific Island nations.
He will lead a Labor team, including his deputy Tanya Plibersek and immigration spokesman Richard Marles, to Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands in November.
The Australian Greens have called on Mr Shorten to listen to the concerns of the island nations and withdraw his party's support for Queensland's massive Adani coal mine.
Greens senator Larissa Waters said Labor must show action by heeding the islands' calls for a moratorium on new Australian coal mines.
"Saying you want action on climate change and then ignoring coal exports, is like taking one step forward and a giant leap backwards, Senator Waters said.
Labor has committed to introducing an emissions trading scheme, should they be returned to government at the next election.
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