The immense cost of the global addiction to fossil fuels is playing out now both in Australia, where flooding rains are again lashing our east coast, and around the world. In just the past 12 months the climate crisis has dramatically escalated with extreme weather records broken on every continent on Earth.

What kept coming through from people on the ground in Egypt, and the long line of global reports launched during COP27, was - what Australia does matters. Our per capita emissions place us in the top 10 globally, a little ahead of the United States, at twice the level of China and three times that of the United Kingdom.

It is unquestionably Australia’s responsibility to play a strong role in supporting developing economies, many of which face catastrophic consequences of climate change to which they have contributed little. This conversation was front and centre at COP27. That support includes public climate finance, as well as risk, regulatory and technical support, to enable greater private sector investment, which will be critical to decarbonising our economies.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that developing economies need to “collectively invest at least $US1 trillion ($1.5 trillion) in energy infrastructure by 2030 and $US3 trillion to $US6 trillion across all sectors per year by 2050.” Many billions more will be needed for adaptation. And then more again for loss and damage compensation.

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Yet, over the five years from 2013 to 2018, Australia provided just $700 million of bilateral climate support to developing economies. This represents a mere 0.4 per cent of the total support - a small fraction of our economic - and emissions-weighted obligation. There is plenty of room for us to step up and Australia’s $900 million aid boost for the Pacific (announced before COP27) is a welcome initiative. But again, it is not enough.

COP27 was meant to bring about concrete action on climate mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage, backed by meaningful financial support. The ultimate failure to achieve much-needed implementation has left me feeling I attended not a “Lollapalooza”, but rather a performance of King Lear.

Australia has put its hand up to co-host a COP in just four years; we must use that time to turn things around at home, to work with our region to shape our vision for an Australia-Pacific COP presidency and, ultimately, to lay the groundwork to ensure that COP31 delivers for all countries and peoples.

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