World leaders caught in glitches during virtual summit

Macron was just minutes into a speech about the urgency of climate action when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cut in and said "Thank you very much Mr. President, I now turn the floor to the president of the Russian Federation, His Excellency Vladimir Putin."

Macron did not seem to hear this though and kept talking while the camera switches to the meeting room in Washington where U.S. President Joe Biden, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and Blinken are looking at Putin on a big screen while Macron - now out of the picture - keeps talking.

Then the sound cuts out as a puzzled-looking Putin is seen consulting with an aid behind him as he waits for his microphone to be opened.

Later on, Morrison began addressing the summit not realising he was mute on his video link.

Biden is hosting the two-day virtual climate change summit, in which the United States hopes to restore its shattered credibility on global warming, amid international concerns that America's commitment to a clean energy economy can shift drastically from one administration to the next.

Biden invited 40 world leaders to discuss new measures to strengthen commitments they made to reduce emissions under the Paris climate agreement.