The Southern Cross Climate Coalition of union, welfare and environmental groups is holding forums in regional Australia to counter what it calls a scare campaign by employers leading up to next month's Copenhagen climate summit.

At Newcastle Trades Hall Council yesterday, ACTU president Sharan Burrow, Australian Conservation Foundation executive director Don Henry, Australian Council of Social Security chief executive Clare Martin and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union mining president Tony Maher addressed about 100 people on the pitfalls of the climate debate.

"We need to be leaders, not laggards," Mr Henry said of Australia's role in the debate.

The group said the Hunter needed a regional plan to ensure its industries won a good share of the work that would flow from climate change.

Trades hall secretary Gary Kennedy said the Illawarra had a regional policy to encourage jobs and the Hunter had to follow suit.

Mr Maher said it was "not a matter of cutting back on consumption and production that's not on the agenda".

He said calling the new jobs "green jobs" confused the issue, because the low-carbon economy would still look a lot like the existing economy, only with different forms of energy.

Australia needed a carbon-trading scheme as soon as possible, as it would give business the certainty to invest in building low-carbon technology.