Donald Trump's decision to reluctantly go ahead with a refugee resettlement deal with Australia has given Foreign Minister Julie Bishop some hope on the climate change front.
The deal is for about 1250 refugees blocked from entering Australia and held on Manus Island and Nauru in exchange for refugees from Central America.
Mr Trump slammed the deal as "dumb" after a heated phone call with Mr Turnbull last month, but reluctantly has agreed to honour it if the refugees pass extreme vetting.
The US President has vowed to pull his country out of the 2015 Paris climate change agreement.
"I think we can take some assurance from President Trump's agreement with Prime Minister Turnbull that they would honour the agreement entered into by the Obama administration," Ms Bishop told Sky News on Thursday night.
"Honouring the commitments of previous governments is not unprecedented."
She said the US has ratified the treaty so "it's gone beyond just a handshake".
Ms Bishop said the US should be able to meet the targets it signed up to - a 26 per cent to 28 per cent reduction in carbon emissions based on 2005 levels.
She has not yet discussed the Paris agreement with US secretary of state Rex Tillerson but was planning a trip to Washington very soon.
