Australia’s new approach was a rare positive at Cop27 – but now the need for action is all the more acute

Christopher Bowen speaks at the Cop27 climate summit. Australia is back – but what does it mean? Photograph: Peter de Jong/AP

The Cop27 climate summit ended in a desperate and confused flurry more than 40 hours late with a qualified victory clutched from the jaws of complete failure, but with the big issues unresolved.

If this sounds familiar, like so many climate summits before it, well … yes. There were genuine developments over the past week, some of which could reshape the global response to the crisis. But there was also intransigence and blocking where it mattered most. Some of that is getting worse.