Tony Abbott has called on countries to set strong binding emissions reductions targets at next year's major climate conference in Paris, warning the world cannot afford another disappointment like the Copenhagen summit in 2009.
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And after years of arguing that Australia should only move faster once major polluters also moved, he has now described climate change as "an important subject" and one "the world needs to tackle as a whole".
The declaration followed one-on-one talks with his French counterpart, President Francois Hollande, in Canberra ranging across trade, security and the need for binding emissions targets.
But he said individual country commitments to reduce carbon pollution must not come at the expense of jobs and growth or they will inevitably fail.
"It was good to hear Francois (Hollande) talking about a binding agreement coming out of Paris," Mr Abbott said.
"What's important is that the agreement is strong and effective and that the targets are met. That's the point: targets have to be met and when it comes to Kyoto, Australia more than met its reductions targets and that can't be said of other countries."
The apparent shift from climate change resister to global action advocate came as he added the giant European Union to his priority list for a free trade agreement and called for greater intelligence sharing with the French on counter-terrorism, and the difficult issue of foreign fighters travelling to and from Iraq and Syria.
Mr Abbott said Australia and France were working side by side to defeat the Islamic State organisation in Iraq but pointedly added that "we've got more to do particularly when it comes to intelligence-sharing on the question of foreign fighters".
The two leaders said they discussed the prospect of greater co-operation on foreign fighters, although they gave no details on how they might work more closely together, including by sharing intelligence on groups such as the Islamic State.
Mr Hollande revealed that a staggering 1000 French citizens have gone to fight in Syria or Iraq or are in transit countries on their way to the battlefields. At least two French nationals have been identified in the latest ISIL video that shows jihadists beheading 18 captured Syrian soldiers.
While Mr Abbott had steadfastly resisted US and European pressure to specifically list climate change on last weekend's G20 summit agenda - a decision that attracted widespread criticism and eventually backfired - his tone, following that summit and a series of bilateral talks, has now softened.
"Yes, we discussed climate change," he volunteered to reporters after his chat with the French President, "I raised climate change".
That attitude contrasts with the derision his office directed at reporters for asking if climate change had come up in previous bilateral talks such as those with US President Barack Obama in June.
"It's very important that we get strong and effective outcomes from the conference in Paris next year," Mr Abbott said on Wednesday.
"Climate change is an important subject. It is a subject that the world needs to tackle as a whole. Yes, each country has to do its bit to tackle the emissions problem. We are all doing what we can, Australia as well, and we need a strong and effective agreement from Paris next year."
And for the second time in days he cited the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation, or "Green Bank", as one of the measures Australia had put in place to drive emissions reduction, along with his own $2.55 billion Direct Action, Emissions Reduction Fund. The CEFC is one of several previous government climate moves the Coalition had pledged to scrap.
Mr Abbott's softening, however, has not convinced everyone, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten slamming his comments as "lip service".
"He fought tooth and nail to keep climate change off the G20 agenda – and he failed," Mr Shorten said.
"Climate change is a major economic issue, the defining issue of the 21st Century according to Ban Ki-Moon – the only person who doesn't seem to get that is Tony Abbott.
"Tony Abbott's stubborn isolationism is not only costing Australia our economic competitiveness but also our international reputation."
It also brought a hostile reaction from Greens leader Christine Milne. She accused him of telling "outright lies" to appease foreign leaders and the international media.
"This is not a cheeky sleight of hand. This is Australia's climate denying prime minister telling outright lies to world leaders and international media," said Senator Milne.
"Tony Abbott does not intend to 'do more' to tackle climate change. He intends to undo more, and add the CEFC to the scrapheap he's built with our emissions trading scheme and our mining tax."
The European Union represents one of the largest trading blocs in the world. Counted as a single economy, it is the world's largest.
A deal with the European Union would be a major boon for Australian exporters who have long-complained of restricted access to highly protected European markets and of unfair competition from heavily subsidised producers - particularly in relation to agricultural producers.
While Canada recently negotiated a free trade agreement with the EU, it is likely a deal with Australia would take years rather than months.
But Mr Abbott remained bullish.
"So, we'll do it as quickly as we can and that might be more quickly than people think."
