Turkey has declared climate change will be a top item on its G20 agenda next year as pressure mounts on Australia to relent and allow the issue air time at this weekend's leaders' summit.
The Australian government resisted calls to put the spotlight on global warming during its 2014 G20 presidency, even with China and the United States upping the ante this week with a bold pact to slash emissions out to 2030.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott joined other world leaders in welcoming the historic deal but remains reluctant to stray from Australia's core G20 agenda.
"There are lots of other issues around right now, lots of other issues that individually and collectively we're interested in, but the focus of this G20 will be on growth and jobs," he said in Canberra on Friday.
But much of the hype before the G20 has been on the China-US deal, and many have questioned why global warming is being ignored at the most important economic summit on the planet.
World Bank President Dr Jim Yong Kim said the deal was extremely important for building momentum toward next year's United Nations climate change summit in Paris, where it's hoped a global agreement to cut greenhouse gases can be reached.
"I'm more optimistic now than I've ever been and to a great extent because of the US and China," he said in Brisbane.
Turkey has confirmed it will restore climate change to the G20 agenda when it hosts the major forum next year.
Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said global warming was the "biggest challenge to all humanity" and couldn't be ignored by world leaders.
"If the G20 agenda is only limited to financial issues, G20 cannot function, cannot have global legitimacy," he warned.
British prime minister David Cameron wants to see more of the detail of the US-China agreement.
"What does matter is when countries make promises, particularly future promises, that they set them out in a way that shows they're going to be achievable," he said in Canberra.
Mr Abbott said it was important the world's two biggest economies "get cracking" on cutting their emissions, adding Australia was a very small emitter by comparison.
Business leaders have axed climate change from the B20 list of recommendations to the G20, saying it's not a priority issue compared to creating jobs and bolstering growth.
Meanwhile, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is expected to announce at the G20 that his government will inject $US1.5 billion ($A1.6 billion) into a UN fund to help developing countries cut emissions.
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