Libs diss climate change deal

As the world begins to digest the historic global climate change deal, some government backbenchers are less than impressed.

WA Liberal MP Dennis Jensen told ABC Radio the agreement was "essentially meaningless" and warned there was no reason to be "metaphorically burning our economy just to appear good on the global stage".

"Hallelujah. The world is saved ... The polar bears can sleep soundly tonight," NSW MP Craig Kelly said on Facebook.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt described the Paris deal as "the most important global environment agreement ever".

He said Australia would be meeting and beating its carbon emissions reduction targets.

"We're ahead of the curve, we are well prepared," he told ABC radio.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who represented Australia throughout the talks, said the agreement balances environmental concerns with economic growth.

"It would be counter-productive to do otherwise," she told the Nine Network on Monday.

Despite compromises, Ms Bishop was pleased with what Australia was able to achieve out of the deal.