Turkey set to host COP31 after reaching compromise with Australia

The COP31 climate meeting is expected to take place in Türkiye after Australia abandoned its bid to host the annual event.

According to UN rules, the right to hold the COP in 2026 belongs to a group of countries consisting of Western Europe, Australia and others.

Consensus must be reached, but neither country was willing to give in. Australia has now agreed to back Turkey's bid in exchange for its minister chairing the post-COP30 talks currently taking place in Brazil.

This unusual arrangement took observers by surprise. It is normal for the CC president to be a representative of the host country, and it remains to be seen how this new partnership will work in practice.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the compromise with Turkey a “remarkable result” in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), saying Pacific issues would be a “focal point.”

He added that he had spoken with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape and Fiji Prime Minister Rabuka.

However, Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko told the AFP news agency: “We are all unhappy. And we’re disappointed that it ended like this.”

Solomon Islands leader Jeremiah Manele previously told the ABC he would be “disappointed” if Australia did not secure the event.

Despite this, there will be relief among the countries currently meeting at COP30 in the Brazilian city of Belem that a compromise has been reached, as the lack of an agreement on the venue was becoming an embarrassment for the UN.

Australia has been pushing for a climate summit to be held in Adelaide, saying it will host the meeting alongside Pacific island nations considered among the most vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels.

Turkey, which had proposed hosting COP31 in Antalya, felt it had a strong claim to be the host country as it stood aside in 2021 and allowed Britain to host the meeting in Glasgow.

If neither country was willing to compromise, the meeting would take place in the German city of Bonn, the headquarters of the UN climate body.

As a result of discussions at COP30, a compromise appears to have been reached.

This includes the pre-CoP meeting, which will be held on the Pacific island, with the main event taking place in Turkey. Its president will be Australian Climate Minister Chris Bowen.

“Obviously it would be great if Australia could have it all, but we can't have it all,” Mr Bowen told reporters outside the Australian delegation's office here in Belem.

“This process works by consensus, and consensus means that if anyone objects to our application, it will be referred to Bonn.”

“That would mean 12 months of no leadership, no CC president, no plan, which would be irresponsible for multilateralism in this difficult environment.”

Mr. Bowen believes that a CC president from outside the host country will serve, and that he will have significant powers reserved for the president of these meetings.

“As the chairman of the Constitutional Court in the negotiations, I will have all the powers of the President of the Constitutional Court to manage the negotiations, appoint co-facilitators, prepare a draft text and make an appropriate decision,” he said.

He also confirmed to the BBC that Türkiye will also appoint a president who will manage the venue, organize meetings and set schedules.

Australia's fall would embarrass Mr Albanese's government, which has lobbied long and hard on the interests of other countries in the Western European group.

The compromise must be ratified by the more than 190 countries gathered here at COP30.

Given the difficulty of reaching this compromise, there is unlikely to be any objection.