New Delhi: Turkey will host the 31st annual climate conference (COP31), after Australia dropped out of the bid to host the event in 2026.
On Wednesday, at the ongoing COP30 in Belém, Brazil, a consensus was reached after lengthy discussions. While initially neither country was willing to concede, Australia eventually backed out, agreeing to support the Turkish bid in exchange for its representative chairing the talks.
Australia’s minister for climate change and energy Chris Bowen has been appointed as the COP President of Negotiations.
Bowen explained that while Turkey would be the COP president as host country, he would act as COP president for the purpose of negotiations, working to “ensure good outcomes”.
“Australia’s motivation in bidding to host COP31 has always been to, one, elevate the views and the interests of our Pacific brothers and sisters. Two, to support multilateralism, particularly as it comes under criticism, and three, of course, to act in Australia’s best interests,” Bowen said in a statement after Wednesday’s discussions.
“Where the COP is held in Turkiye, but Australia, myself, is appointed COP President for Negotiations, for the purposes of negotiations, is an outcome which achieves those objectives. Obviously, it would be great if Australia could have it all. But we can’t have it all. This process works on consensus,” he added.
Experts present during the talks told ThePrint that Australia presented a strong case to have the climate summit hosted in Adelaide, offering to co-host the meet with the Pacific Island states that are seen among the most vulnerable to climate change-induced disasters.
Turkey offered to host the meeting in Antalya.
If neither country had agreed to back down, the venue of the next climate talks would have been Bonn, in Germany, which is the headquarters of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Experts said the real test for next year’s COP will not be where it is hosted but what it brings to the table to further the global climate talks and commitments.
“The question of where COP31 is hosted is secondary to what it delivers. What matters most is that the summit drives real progress on climate ambition, finance, and implementation, especially for energy transition,” European Climate Foundation CEO Laurence Tubiana said.
“Both Australia and Türkiye have shown strong commitment to the process, and the current impasse should not be seen as a failure of will. It is not that one country wants it more than the other–both have vital roles to play in advancing multilateral climate action.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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