Turkey wins bid to host COP31 in Antalya following agreement with Australia

By John Ainger, Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Keira Wright

 

Turkey is set to host the flagship United Nations climate change conference next year, beating Australia following a protracted contest between the two countries. 

A deal was reached so that the COP31 talks next November will be staged in the resort city of Antalya, said Jochen Flasbarth, Germany’s state secretary for climate. 

 

Although a formal sign-off is still needed, Flasberth said there was no opposition within a group of countries needed to back the decision.

 

“It’s something extraordinary that two countries, from very different sides of the planet but being in one group, reached an agreement,” Flasbarth told reporters after the meeting. “I saw a lot of support and no general opposition.”

 

Under the agreement hammered out late Wednesday, Turkey will hold the COP presidency for purposes of hosting the event, while Australia will lead negotiations, Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen told reporters, confirming earlier reporting by Bloomberg. The world leaders summit that typically happens at the start of each COP also will take place in Turkey. 

 

A yet-to-be-specified Pacific island will host a pre-COP gathering, which is intended to lure pledges for a fund to help the region build resiliency to climate change, Bowen said. 

 

It’s a novel conclusion to a fight over which country would stage and run the UN climate summit that can draw world leaders, tens of thousands of delegates and tourism dollars. Flasbarth acknowledged the split responsibilities had drawn some questions because “this is innovative.”

 

The result is a blow not just to Australia, but also to those who had counted on an “island COP” to deliver more aggressive plans for shifting away from fossil fuels and scaling up finance for countries on the front lines of climate change. With Turkey playing host, the COP will continue a stretch taking place mostly in the Middle East, following sessions in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan.  

 

While this year’s climate conference on the edge of the Brazilian rainforest has been welcoming to environmental and Indigenous activism, critics have raised concerns that such activity may be curtailed under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian leadership.

 

Erdogan’s government has touted Turkey’s credentials to act as a bridge between developed and emerging economies. That speaks to the tensions between rich and developing nations over funding for climate action that have dominated negotiations in recent years.

 

Turkey, which is targeting net zero emissions by 2053, is preparing a new set of national climate targets.

 

Australia had sought to host the next COP summit as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attempts to reverse its reputation as a climate laggard. Legislation on the country’s first binding emissions reduction target was passed shortly after he came to power. A new goal announced in September seeks cuts of as much as 70% to its 2005 level of emissions by 2035. 

 

Australia’s role leading the negotiations would put the country in control of overseeing the talks, appointing negotiating leader teams and preparing draft texts. 

 

“What we’ve been trying to do is get a solution which works for Australia, the Pacific, and also the multilateral process,” Bowen said, adding that the negotiated approach achieves those objectives. 

 

Had a group of countries negotiating the matter failed to reach consensus — with even one nation objecting to Australia’s hosting bid — the summit could have gone to Germany by default. “That would be 12 months with a lack of leadership, no COP president in place, no plan,” Bowen said. “That would be irresponsible for multilateralism in this challenging environment.”

 

Both Albanese and Erdogan missed talks held by dozens of world leaders in Brazil earlier this month ahead of this year’s COP30 summit. 

 

Read More: What Are COP Meetings For? Does It Matter Who Hosts?: QuickTake

 

The COP summit is rotated among five blocs. Australia and Turkey are both members of the Western European and Other States group under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

 

The UN had previously asked the bloc to settle on a single candidate by June this year. Albanese and Erdogan had traded letters on the issue without reaching a compromise. Australia had proposed Adelaide in South Australia as the host city.

 

The African group of negotiators has endorsed Ethiopia as host of the 2027 meeting, setting the stage for a formal decision later this week.