Australia rules out co-hosting climate summit with Turkey
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this month wrote to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in an attempt to resolve the tussle.
PHOTO: EPA
SYDNEY - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Nov 17 that Australia would not co-host the COP31 climate summit with Turkey amid an ongoing stalemate between the two countries over which one should stage the conference in 2026.
Turkey has proposed jointly leading the 2026 UN climate summit with Australia and the discussions on the hosting stand-off remain unresolved, Turkish diplomatic sources said on Nov 16.
“No, we won’t be co-hosting because co-hosting isn’t provided for under the rules of the (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change),” Mr Albanese said during a media briefing in Melbourne.
“So that’s not an option and people are aware that it is not an option, which is why it has been ruled out.”
Australia and Turkey both submitted bids in 2022 to host COP31 and neither has withdrawn, leading to an attention-sapping impasse that must be overcome at 2025’s COP30 meeting currently taking place in Belem, Brazil.
Australia’s Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen arrived in Belem on Nov 16 which “has been a shot in the arm for Australia’s bid”, said Mr Thom Woodroofe, a senior fellow with the Smart Energy Council in Australia.
Mr Woodroofe said it would be difficult for Australia and Turkey to co-host COP31 given the two countries have very different priorities, but added that Australia should find a way to accommodate Turkey’s desire to lead.
UN rules require unanimity among the 28-strong group of countries on whose turn it is to host COP31. If neither Australia nor Turkey compromises, hosting duties would default to Bonn in Germany, which houses the UN’s climate headquarters. German officials have said they do not want to host.
The annual COP, or Conference of the Parties, is the world’s main forum for driving climate action. But it has grown over the years from diplomatic gatherings into vast trade shows where host countries can promote economic prospects.
The host matters because it sets the agenda and leads the diplomacy needed to reach global agreements.
Mr Albanese wrote to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in November in an attempt to resolve the tussle as he pushes to host the summit with Pacific island nations for the first time.
A regional diplomatic bloc of 18 countries, the Pacific Islands Forum, is backing Australia’s bid. Several Pacific island nations are at risk from rising seas. REUTERS
