When he boarded Shark One on Monday climate didn't rate a mention. It was all about AUKUS, "national interests and the peace and stability of the region", terrorism, and "keeping Australians safe".

Some pundits were predicting he would be snubbed over our emissions targets and there was a strong perception the "quad" talks would be dominated by the need to explain the nuclear submarine decision to the possibly miffed leaders of India and Japan.

None of that came to pass. In a surprising turn of events when Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced the PM at the Capitol on Thursday she praised his climate efforts.

"We have a bipartisan meeting after we leave here to discuss how we can work together on critical priorities, of course climate change - and thank you for your leadership in that regard," Ms Pelosi said.

That would have come as a shock to the Australian press contingent given Australia, on paper at least, is still lagging well behind America in terms of committing to zero emissions by 2050.

What are the odds Mr Morrison has been telling all and sundry he is committed to the target ahead of the Glasgow conference and that it is just a matter of working through the domestic politics?

That would be a sensible and pragmatic line to take given clean energy partnerships, stronger action on climate change and ways around the Chinese rare earth monopoly were among the headline topics for Friday's "quad" talks.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's groundbreaking address to the Australian Industry Group on Friday (Australian time) was perfectly timed to smooth the path for Mr Morrison.

The speech was notable in that this is pretty much the first time a senior Coalition figure has publicly spoken about the cost of not acting on climate change. PreviousIy the default position has been to talk about the economic consequences of decarbonising the economy.

That's why Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has been able to get away with remarks such "show us the plan", even though he is in government.

And, on the subject of the acting PM, while he might not have been online for Mr Frydenberg's speech, large chunks of it were aimed at him and the recalcitrant rump of climate change deniers he represents.

"It is wrong to assume sectors like resources and agriculture will decline over the course of the transition (to net zero)," the treasurer said.

"To the contrary many businesses in these sectors are at the cutting edge of innovation and technological change."

The Nationals have finally been called out over the fact the views they espouse are at odds with the majority of voters in every constituency they represent.

That's why, when the PM was asked if Australia had already settled on a net zero timeline he essentially said "not quite yet".

"We'll be considering further when I return to Australia the plan that we believe can help us achieve our ambition in this area ... I've already said that it's Australia's ambition to ... achieve net zero as soon as possible, preferably by 2050," he said.

And Mr Joyce's response? "I've got no problems with any plan (for net zero by 2050) that does not leave regional areas hurt," he said.

Has the Lazarus Nationals leader been told he has to bring his rag tag pack of coal-powered dinosaurs on board with what will soon be Coalition policy or there will be consequences? Time will tell.

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