But The Chaser's War On Everything and The Checkout star won't accept that dealing with one disaster, means another is punted down the road. Not for a moment.

"I think it's gonna have both positive and negative effects," Reucassel says, when asked how coronavirus will impact the groundswell of support for action on climate change that was generated following last summer's devastating bushfires.

"I think there will be an extent where it's used as an excuse not to respond to the climate issue, by some. But for others, coronavirus has woken people up.

"In Australia, our biggest successes early on were because we responded quickly and the government acted together with other groups like business and unions, because individuals need to take responsibility and do the right thing. That's pretty much the same thing we need for climate change."

Climate change and the environment have long been passionate projects for the affable comedian.

In 2017 he launched his ABC series War On Waste, which helped Australians understand the impact of their garbage on the environment.

Reucassel's new three-part series Fight For Planet A: Our Climate Challenge takes a step further, breaking down the complex climate change issue to educate Australians on how they can reduce their carbon emissions and footprint through simple household measures.

The series also provides several shocking statistics such as the fact that Australians emit double the carbon dioxide per person of China.

"There's very intentionally a lot of misinformation put out in this space and that's what you're up against," Reucassel says. "This show is about trying to get out the right information."

Fight for Planet A also showcases a previously-unseen side of the 43-year-old, who is best known for his cutting pranks on politicians, business people and celebrities.

Early in the first episode Reucassel becomes visibly upset as he watches a group of schoolchildren protest for greater action on climate change.

"I'm actually bit of a crier generally," he says. "That really did get to me. I have three kids of my own and I feel like there's a real generational shafting going on.

"Those of us who are a bit older and more established are handing over a terrible situation to the next generation and not doing near enough."

Climate change is often described as our great moral challenge or an emergency. It's been arguably the most destructive debate of the past decade in Australian politics, playing a role in the downfall of Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Malcolm Turnbull's prime ministerships and further fracturing the left and right wings in politics.

Yet for all the discussion and media coverage, Reucassel admits terms like emissions and carbon footprint aren't readily understood by Australians. It's also a difficult concept to make entertaining.

That's why he enlisted five families for the series and demonstrated various DIY home improvements or lifestyle changes that can be implemented to reduce carbon emissions. This involved everything from reducing car use to cutting power usage.

"It can feel kind of pointless on your own, but you realise if everyone does this together it can have a massive impact," he says.

"I'm not saying that individuals alone can solve the climate change problem, that's not the case. We need government, we need business to get on board as well. But it really helps when people are involved in this.

"It's more likely to bring on that bigger change."

Old Chaser fans also won't be disappointed. Reucassel adopted several of his infamous public pranks, which included following Prime Minister Scott Morrison along Cronulla beach with a bunch of carbon dioxide balloons and attempting to deliver 20 million trees to Chevron's head office in Perth to offset their carbon emissions.