Australia will invest $125 million to help Pacific nations transition energy grids to renewables. (Ben McKay/AAP PHOTOS)

The Australian government is partnering with Pacific nations to improve their energy security with a $125 million investment in renewables.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says investment in energy grid transition to renewable sources is an opportunity to restore Australia’s climate leadership.

She says supporting Pacific nations’ transition to renewable energy and away from imported fossil fuels will enhance economic resilience, improve energy security and help them meet their climate goals.

The funding, which comprises a $75 million investment through the REnew Pacific program and $50 million through the Australia-Pacific Partnership for Energy Transition, was announced at the COP29 United Nations climate summit.

The REnew Pacific program will help deliver off-grid and community-scale renewable energy in remote and rural parts of the Pacific including Fiji, enabling lighting, access to water, improved agriculture, better food security, quality education and health services, reliable communications connectivity and enhanced incomes.

The $50 million funding will capture renewable energy investment benefits such as energy transition modelling, grid studies, feasibility studies and university collaborations.

The investment is the latest in a rollout of climate action funding announced by the Albanese government in the past week.

Wong launched a new $126 million climate program on last to spur climate action in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.

The announcements coincided with calls from developing economies, including Australia’s cash-strapped Pacific neighbours, to draw a line under climate support being tied to taking on more debt.

Developing countries will require $US1.3 trillion ($A2 trillion) annually by the 2030s to meet climate needs, according to a report released at COP29 by climate finance experts.

Australia’s Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, who arrived in Baku for COP29 via Turkey, is set to co-chair negotiations in the final week of the summit that will determine a new collective climate finance goal.

Turkey and the Australian state of South Australia are bidding to host COP31.