Pressure on the Albanese government to help scientists deal with South Australia’s devastating algal bloom has intensified, with the Liberals backing calls by the Greens to provide funding, and for a parliamentary inquiry to probe the extent of the ecological catastrophe.

A day after The Australian Financial Review reported the federal government had twice rejected appeals by ocean scientists for funds so they could monitor the bloom, which has killed tens of thousands of marine animals in just three months, conservation groups voiced scepticism about Australia’s suitability to host next year’s United Nations annual climate summit in Adelaide.