"There are no jobs on a dead planet," the International Trade Union Confederation's general secretary, Sharan Burrow, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

"Our motto is you can't deny that climate change is real - I'm shocked to see that some of our people in Australian parliament still do," she said.

"For an educated country, if you don't read the science - then, goodness gracious, really.

"Australia's one of the most vulnerable continents on the earth and if we don't make a global contribution with high ambitions then, with just over 10 years to stabilise the planet, there are no jobs on a dead planet."

Ms Burrow, a former secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, received the Companion of the Order of Australia in last week's Queen's Birthday honours.

She said while workers in fossil fuel industries "have brought us prosperity" and "deserve respect", Australian unions should join the international movement in making climate change a priority as the globe was at a critical turning point.

"We will work to see no one is left behind," Ms Burrow said.

"That's why we fought and won the idea of just transition in the Paris Agreement and now we're working to see agreements with governments, with employers, to make sure that workers and their families are supported but also so that their community have hope for the future."

Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union national president Tony Maher will fly to Queensland this week to meet with Adani Australia chief executive Lucas Dow to discuss the company's long-term hiring plans.

Mr Maher wrote to the union last month - before the Queensland government signed off on the mine's final environmental approvals - demanding "urgent clarification" about the number of permanent, ongoing jobs at the mine.

While thousands of indirect jobs would be created during the mine's construction, the number of ongoing positions could be as low as 800.

The CFMMEU supports a "just transition" away from coal, but its Queensland branch pressured election candidates to pledge their support to ongoing jobs the industry, fuelling divisions in the lead-up to last month's national poll.

Ms Burrow said she had always had the view that workers would "see the sense" about the environmental imperative to phase out coal, but acknowledged the concerns of those living in areas of unemployment.

"I understand the pain of communities," she said.

"I understand the fear and despair of people who can't see a future because there are no agreements, there are no promises they can touch and trust because they've been part of a dialogue in developing them. But it is about their future ... We have to build sustainable futures."

Asked if Labor's electoral defeat showed that voters did not support the party's climate change agenda, Ms Burrow pointed to the use of advertising in the campaign to make people more fearful.

Ms McManus has previously blamed a social media "Labor death tax" scare campaign for the election result, while former Labor leader Bill Shorten raised similar concerns.

Ms Burrow said working people needed to see "the kind of policy frameworks that they feel they can trust".

"It takes time and it takes the capacity to be able to listen to people and try and talk through the fears and what will give them the confidence."