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Environment Minister Rona Ambrose found herself on the hot seat again at the UN Climate Conference on Thursday as French Environment Minister Nelly Olin expressed shock and disappointment that Ottawa has abandoned its targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

Olin is the first to go public with her unhappiness, although there has been a lot of talk among delegates in the corridors that Canada is taking criticism in private from other conference participants.

The French minister said the Canadian position is all the more troubling because Canada had seemed to be on its way to developing a coherent climate plan under the previous government.

"I am extremely disappointed, extremely disappointed, because we worked for years with, notably, (former environment minister) Stephane Dion on a policy that seemed coherent," Olin after a news briefing Thursday.

"I am very disappointed at Canada's retreat. I hope it is temporary," she said in French.

"It's a shock for us, a shock for all who support Kyoto. And above all, it's a shock, I think, for the Canadians who I think are generally supportive of Kyoto."