London - The leaders of Britain and Australia said Monday they were confident that this week's London summit of Group of 20 (G20) nations would achieve progress towards forging a new international consensus on how to put the world economy back on a path of recovery.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking after talks with Kevin Rudd, his Australian counterpart, said he had seen an "unprecedented global response to an unprecedented crisis" in his talks with world leaders ahead of the summit.

"I believe the world will rise to the challenge and defeat those who say doing nothing is an option," said Brown, adding that he believed "concrete action" would be agreed.

Rudd praised the British premier as "the driving force in making sure that governments around the world act together" and said there had already been "substantial progress on macro-economic coordination."

"Never before have governments cooperated so closely in so grave an economic crisis," said Rudd. "If we act together the overall impact on the global economy will be that much greater," he added.

"Progress has been achieved, progress will be achieved in London and further progress will be necessary as the year progresses as more data emerges about the challenges in 2010," Rudd said at a news conference.