Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Labor will never "pull up the white flag" on climate change and it is the wrong time to change direction on the issue.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has vowed to repeal Labor's carbon tax, which is now transitioning to an emissions trading scheme, if the coalition wins Saturday's election.
But Labor says it won't back away from this policy.
The coalition has hinted it may resort to a double dissolution if Labor and the Greens thwart their mandate to axe the tax.
Mr Rudd says Labor remains committed to its course of action on climate change, including the emissions trading scheme.
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"If we in Australia turn our back on it, it licenses everyone around the world to do the same," he told the Nine Network on Wednesday.
"You can do the easy thing and pull up a white flag on climate change.
"We'll never do that for the simple reason that our actions are part of responsible global action to bring down the impact of global warming."
He says climate change and global warming aren't going away and voters who have doubts about the coalition's direct action plan shouldn't vote for them.
"It's exactly the wrong time to do a U-turn on this."
Mr Rudd later said voters unsure about action on climate change should think about the world they want for their grandchildren.
"Look in the eyes of your kids and through them see the eyes of your grandkids, ask yourself this question: which side of history do you want to be on when it comes to the future of climate change and global warming," he told Gold FM in Melbourne.
"If you don't act now, 50 years time it's too late."
Mr Rudd said some of Labor's measures had been controversial, but they had been working.
"To give your listeners a sense of encouragement, in the last five years we've actually brought down the level of carbon emissions from electricity generation in Australia by seven per cent, we've now got more than a million solar panels on roofs across Australia - when we started in office there were 7,500.
"So big changes are occurring but we've got to keep making them in order to have an effect in the future."
