Katie Allen, who represents the Melbourne-based seat of Higgins, wants the Morrison government to lift its current climate action ambitions and commit to a 2050 target ahead of the major international summit in Glasgow later this year.

The federal government has so far resisted mounting domestic and international pressure to adjust its short- and long-term emissions reduction targets, sticking by its goal of achieving carbon neutrality as soon as possible but "preferably" by 2050.

A spokesman for Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor restated that position on Monday night, while adding that Australia remained on track to beat what he described as its "strong" 2030 target.

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Ms Allen, part of an active group of moderate Liberal backbenchers who have been pushing for stronger climate targets, was confident that the Coalition would ultimately announce a 2050 target.

"I'm fighting for a 2050 commitment and I believe the Prime Minister will deliver on that," she told The Canberra Times.

"I think he also understands that it's not just about the target, it's also about the plan, and we can't have one without the other."

The Canberra Times spoke to Ms Allen and other Coalition MPs after the release of Australia Conservation Foundation-commissioned polling which showed support for strong climate action in all corners of the country.

More than 70 per cent of the 15,000-plus peopled surveyed in the YouGov poll believed Australia should aim to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, while just over 60 per cent backed at least a 50 per cent emissions cut by 2030.

The poll showed climate change was a major issue for more than half of Coalition supporters, including just under one-quarter who said it was the most important factor in deciding their vote at the next election.

In Ms Allen's inner-city electorate, which is set to be targeted by the Greens at the next election, 75 per cent of voters wanted her government to do more to tackle global warming.

Ms Allen said she wasn't shocked by the results, saying climate change was among the issues which kept her constituents "awake at night".

Liberal MP Bridget Archer said she was "not surprised in the slightest" by the results of the poll, which showed 68 per cent of voters in her northern Tasmania seat of Bass wanted the Coalition to do more.

Bass is the Liberals' most marginal seat, held by less than 1 per cent.

Ms Archer and North Sydney MP Trent Zimmerman earlier this year used a parliamentary inquiry report to call on the government to lock in a net-zero-by-2050 target ahead of the Glasgow summit.

"My community is consistently telling me that climate change is one of the issues of highest importance to them," Ms Archer told The Canberra Times on Monday.

"The northern Tasmanian community want to see a more ambitious target to reduce emissions and I believe the time to commit to this target is now."

Liberal Jason Falinski, who holds the seat of Mackellar on Sydney's northern beaches, said the government should commit to net zero by 2050 and set a "stretch target" for 2030 which went beyond its current 26-28 per cent aim.

Mr Falinski conceded the federal government was "letting itself down a lot" on the international stage, where Australia is now widely seen as a global laggard on climate action as countries such the US and UK race ahead with ambitious 2030 targets.

"We need to be turning up [on the international stage] with targets, and we need to be holding people accountable," he said.

He said Australia and other rich Western nations also needed to play a bigger role in helping developing nations bring down emissions.

"It's all well and good for wealthy Western countries to be talking about what their particular goals are, and all the back slapping that goes on in international forums," he said.

"But the real question is, how do we help a whole bunch of nations in south-east Asia, the south Pacific, Africa, develop their economies and help their people have economic opportunities without them relying on heavy emitting fuels?"

Invited to comment on the poll results, Mr Taylor's spokeswoman backed in the government's existing targets, while attacking Labor for refusing to set a 2030 emissions reduction goal. The opposition has pledged net zero by 2050.

"Australia has a strong 2030 target, and unlike many other countries we are going to beat our 2030 target," the spokeswoman said.

"Every year since we came to government, our forecast position has improved."

Between 2005 and 2019, Australia reduced emissions faster than the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and the G20 and OECD averages.

"We are committed to achieving net-zero emissions as soon as possible, and preferably by 2050. While ambition is important, outcomes are what ultimately matter."