The Australian Opposition leader says Australia needs to be part of a global approach to tackling climate change, or else jobs will be lost without any benefit to the environment.

The Federal Liberal Party leader, Brendan Nelson, says the Prime Minister needs to resist being captured by what he's described as "extremists", in deciding what to include in an emissions trading scheme.

Dr Nelson also says Australia should be in discussions with China, India and the United States, the world's major emitters, before proceeding.

"There's no point Australia screaming ahead of the pack, implementing a system that has not been thought through fully, that's going to do enormous damage to sections of the Australian economy unless we've got the rest of the world with us," Dr Nelson said.

He remains opposed to including fuel in an emissions trading scheme, unless motorists are compensated in some way for the price hikes it will cause.

Produced by Radio Australia and Australia Network