Oxfam Australia says climate finance is a lifeline for some of the world's poorest people and is a vital component of the yearly international negotiations that are meant to keep the world safe.

Ahead of the next UN Climate Change Conference, Australia has passed new climate laws to accelerate its contribution to curbing global warming by cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030.

But new commitments on climate finance to help less developed countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate change are yet to be declared.

Rich countries including Australia pledged in Copenhagen in 2009 to raise US$100 billion a year in climate finance by 2025 to help less developed economies - a promise ditched under the coalition government.

Instead, last year Australia announced an "increase" in international climate finance commitments to $A2 billion over the next five years to support developing countries in the region.

But research by Oxfam Australia and ActionAid Australia has estimated Australia's fair share at $A4 billion annually, or approximately 10 times the contributions expected between 2020 and 2025.

Further, existing climate financing has been questioned by Oxfam in a recent report that found figures may be dodgy and countries may be short-changing some of the world's most vulnerable communities.

Oxfam audited the World Bank's reported $US17.2 billion 2020 climate finance portfolio and found it could be off by as much as 40 per cent, or $US7 billion.

Stricter reporting rules and clear definitions are demanded in the lead-up to the United Nations summit in November, with Australian politicians, business leaders and charities to gather in Cairo after last year's Glasgow session.

A spokesman for Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen told AAP Australia is committed to working with the international community to make the upcoming climate negotiations successful.

"Australia determines how much of our development funding can be attributed as climate finance in line with the OECD climate change guidance, and like-minded country commitments and reporting," he said on Wednesday.

Quizzed about Oxfam's claims, he said Australia supports transparency and accountability in climate finance, including by multilateral institutions such as the World Bank.

But Australia is "supportive of international efforts to develop clearer, credible and globally comparable climate risk disclosure standards," he said.

The latest Oxfam report, Unaccountable Accounting, says rich countries have broken their $100 billion promise.

To make matters worse, more than 70 per cent of capital mobilised was in loans, placing even more strain on poor countries' budgets when they have to pay it back, Oxfam said.

"This audit exposes the danger that some climate finance claims could simply be greenwashing, which would lead to a dangerous under-investment in poor countries' mitigation and adaptation efforts," Oxfam's climate change policy lead Nafkote Dabi said.

"Without better disclosure, the World Bank is asking us all to take too much on faith. These funds are too important for that," she said.

Australian Associated Press