Türkiye will host next year’s UN climate summit while Australia will lead the conference’s negotiations among governments, under a compromise deal taking shape in talks in Brazil, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, according to a report by The Edge.
The annual COP conferences are the world’s main forum for driving climate action. The compromise would resolve a stand-off between Australia and Türkiye over who would stage COP31. Both bid in 2022 to host it and refused to stand down.
The two sides were now close to a deal that would see Türkiye hosting COP31 as summit president, with a pre-COP event staged in the Pacific and Australia as president of negotiations, Albanese said.
“What we’ve come up with is a big win for both Australia and Türkiye,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp Radio.
The deal envisages Bowen leading COP negotiations. “I would have all the powers of COP presidency to manage, to handle the negotiations, to appoint cofacilitators, to prepare draft text, and to issue the cover decision,” Bowen said.
Australia pitched its bid as a “Pacific COP”, done in partnership with low-lying island nations and emphasising their exposure to climate change and rising sea levels.
It says it has already spent A$7 million (US$4.5 million, or RM18.7 million) on preparing to host, reflecting confidence that backing from a large number of countries would enable it to fend off Türkiye’s bid.
Meanwhile, Türkiye, which will host COP31 in the city of Antalya, has said that as an emerging economy, it would promote solidarity between rich and poor countries at its summit, which would have a more global rather than regional focus.
