Turkey set to host COP31 climate summit, Australia to lead government talks

By Kate Abnett, Renju Jose and Kirsty Needham

Turkey 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.

The annual COP conferences are the world's main forum for driving climate action. The compromise would resolve a stand-off between Australia and Turkey 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 Turkey 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 Turkey," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp Radio.

The two nations now have just a year to prepare for an event that attracts tens of thousands of people and requires months of diplomatic legwork to reach consensus around climate goals.

"There's a little way to go in these discussions," Australia's Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told reporters at COP30 in Belem, Brazil, adding that the compromise would achieve Australia's aims.

"It would be great if Australia could have it all. But we can't have it all," he said on Wednesday. "It was important to strike an agreement."

The deal envisages Bowen leading COP negotiations. "I would have all the powers of COP presidency to manage, to handle the negotiations, to appoint co-facilitators, to prepare draft text, and to issue the cover decision," Bowen said.

The Turkish government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Papua New Guinea's Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said it was a disappointing result for the Pacific region, which had wanted to be the main focus at the summit.

"It is very important that the Pacific is completely involved in pre-COP events as we are the ones that are affected by climate change the most and we give out zero emissions," he told Reuters in an interview.

"Our people and countries are suffering because of the inability of others to make things happen."

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers told Sky News, however, that even with the compromise agreement "we've made sure that the Pacific is front and centre, which is really one of our most important objectives in all of this."

SPOTLIGHT ON PACIFIC CONCERNS

Australia pitched its bid as a "Pacific COP", done in partnership with island nations and emphasising their exposure to climate change and rising sea levels.

It says it has already spent A$7 million ($4.5 million) on preparing to host, reflecting confidence that backing from a large number of countries would enable it to fend off Turkey's bid.

Turkey, 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.

Earlier this week, Albanese rejected prospects of co-hosting the event, citing United Nations rules. Turkey had urged a joint model and said the sides had discussed potential frameworks in September.

"It is a good outcome," said David Dutton, a director of research at the Lowy Institute and who was until September Australia's assistant secretary of climate diplomacy.

"It alleviates some of the cost and burden of organising the COP while creating opportunities for Australia and the Pacific to do something with it."