Türkiye hosts COP 31 and Australia takes over government negotiations Environment and climate

Australia has agreed to leave hosting of the United Nations climate change conference “COP31” to Turkey next year, while Canberra announced that it will lead government negotiations during the conference, in a move that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described as a “huge win” for both parties.

Albanese announced on Thursday that Australia has agreed to host Turkey’s COP 31 conference, which will be held next year, but Canberra will lead government negotiations during the conference.

The two countries now have just one year to prepare for an event that will attract tens of thousands of people and require months of diplomatic work to reach consensus on climate goals.

For its part, sources told The Guardian that the two-week event will be held in the Turkish city of Antalya overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in November 2026.

The details of the agreement were discussed between the two countries’ climate ministers, Chris Bowen and Murat Kurum, at the COP 30 climate conference in the Brazilian city of Belem yesterday, Wednesday.

“There is still a short way to go in these discussions,” Australian Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told reporters at a climate conference in Belem, Brazil, adding that a settlement would achieve Australia’s goals.

“It would be great if Australia got everything,” he said on Wednesday. “But we can’t get everything. It was important to reach an agreement.” The agreement stipulates that Bowen will lead the COP negotiations.

“I will have all the powers of the COP presidency to manage the negotiations, lead the negotiations, appoint co-facilitators, prepare the draft text and issue the preliminary decision,” Bowen said. The Turkish government did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to Reuters.

“It’s a good result,” said David Dutton, director of research at the Lowy Institute and Australian Assistant Secretary of State for Climate Diplomacy.

He added that this alleviates some of the costs and burdens of organizing the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and creates opportunities for Australia and the Pacific region to do something about it.

Both Australia and Turkey had applied to host the COP 31 since 2022, and neither had withdrawn as of yesterday, Wednesday, leading to a deadlock in the COP 30 meeting.

Last Sunday, Turkey proposed joint leadership of the conference, while the Australian Prime Minister commented on that on Monday in Melbourne by saying, “We will not participate in hosting because joint hosting is not stipulated in the rules”United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)”.

Under the procedural rules, it is assumed that if a consensus on the host country is not reached, the Conference of the Parties will be held in the German city of Bonn, where the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is located.

The annual Conference of the Parties (COP) is the main global forum for driving climate action. The host country is also important because it sets the agenda and leads the diplomatic efforts needed to reach global agreements.