Australia belatedly joins 'coalition of ambition' at Paris climate talks

Foreign minister Julie Bishop responds to Twitter outrage by saying Australia has accepted an invitation after group of 100 nations held a press conference

Australia has belatedly joined a "coalition of ambition" in the Paris climate talks - a loose grouping of more than 100 developed and developing countries including the US, EU, Canada and Brazil - aimed at countering a push by China, India and Saudi Arabia to water down aspects of the climate pact as negotiations run overtime.

Tony de Brum, foreign minister of the tiny Marshall Islands, and a founder of the new alliance, insisted Australia had not yet joined, and Australia was not represented at a press conference to announce new members - which also include Brazil, Switzerland, Iceland, the Philippines, the Seychelles, Luxembourg and Canada.