And Trade Minister Andrew Robb has warned that developing countries should not expect any further money from Australia throughout the climate negotiations.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop announced at global climate talks in Lima that the government would take $200 million over four years from the foreign aid budget to put toward the Green Climate Fund, which will help developing countries deal with climate change.

It follows weeks of criticism after the government tried to resist the fund's inclusion on a G20 communique and refused to join other world leaders at a conference in Berlin that aimed to raise an initial $10 billion for the measure.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously likened United Nations climate funds to "a Bob Brown bank on an international scale".

But in an interview with Fairfax Media on Wednesday, Ms Bishop said it was not correct that the Abbott government was backing down in the face of international pressure.

"The Prime Minister specifically said that we will keep it under review and that's precisely what we did. The negotiating team has been here for a week immersed in negotiations. I was briefed in depth by them by yesterday when I arrived and I briefed the Prime Minister and he made the call," Ms Bishop said.

"That is entirely appropriate in developing public policy."

The minister also responded to criticism that the funds should not be drawn from Australia's existing foreign aid budget.

"This is our neighbourhood, this is where we are already using our aid program to assist developing countries in the Pacific," she said.

"This is money from the aid budget that would have otherwise been allocated to the Pacific for climate mitigation and climate related action to work against the impact of climate change."

In an interview with the ABC in 2012 while in opposition, Ms Bishop said climate change funding should not be "disguised as foreign aid funding".

"We would certainly not spend our foreign aid budget on climate change programs," she said at the time.

Mr Robb, who is also at the summit, told a group of business representatives the government wanted to make sure developing countries understood there would be no further money from the Australian government throughout the climate talks.

The government also wanted to ensure there were proper arrangements for developing countries to access the funds.

"We want a demonstration that they will use it to leverage private sector investment and identify real projects," he said.

"They can't just pocket the $10 billion and say 'Now what is the next thing?'."

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said on Wednesday the government had been forced into a "humiliating retreat" and had done something Ms Bishop said in opposition they would never do – divert funds from foreign aid to climate change.

"Tony Abbott's simply changing his tactics because he's worried about keeping his job. He's not worried about protecting the environment against climate change, Mr Shorten said.

"Tony Abbott's worried about protecting his government against political change."

Greens leader Christine Milne said Australia's contribution to the fund looked "begrudging" and was the result of intense international pressure.

"There is no way Australia could have continued with its stand against global finance and be viewed as negotiating in good faith here in Lima," Senator Milne said.

"$50 million a year is nowhere near enough when the global target for finance is $100 billion a year by 2020.

Environment groups welcomed the government's about-turn on Wednesday but said any funds should be additional money, rather than drawn from the existing foreign aid budget.

"Climate change is presenting new problems for developing nations, so our contribution to the Green Climate Fund should be new money," the Australian Conservation Foundation's Victoria McKenzie-McHarg said.

Marcus Priest travelled to Lima with the assistance of the Clean Energy Council as winner of its 2013 media award.

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