BRUSSELS – Russia’s opposition to holding 2024’s United Nations climate summit in a European Union country has left nations scrambling to find an alternative in time to organise the massive global event.

Nearly 200 countries gather each year for the two-week Conference of the Parties (COP) to agree to joint efforts to tackle climate change.

This year will mark the 28th such conference, or COP28, and will begin on Nov 30 in Dubai.

The event rotates around the world’s regions and 2024 is set to take place in Eastern Europe, but geopolitical tensions amid the Ukraine war have so far prevented the region from agreeing on a location.

Russia earlier in 2023 opposed COP29 being held in an EU country. The EU has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has sanctioned Moscow over the war.

Armenia and Azerbaijan offered to host COP29 – but each is expected to veto the other, amid heightened tensions after Azerbaijan retook the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh with a military operation in September.

“There is no solution at the moment,” Bulgaria’s Environment and Water Minister, Mr Julian Popov, told Reuters.

The discussion among countries was now about “how to save COP” next year, he added.

The 23 countries in the UN’s Eastern European group must be unanimous in their choice for the host. Bulgaria, an EU member, volunteered to host COP29 but was opposed by Russia.

Mr Popov said countries are now discussing unusual options, including potentially splitting the massive event into a series of smaller conferences held in different Eastern European countries. He said Bulgaria would still be willing to host.

“The practicality of organising a huge event in one year is also becoming quite difficult,” he added.

The host country would hold the COP presidency – a key role in driving ambition at the summit and guiding the talks.

Summit sites are typically agreed upon well in advance so the host country can prepare for the influx of tens of thousands of delegates. The 2025 summit – COP30 – is set to take place in Brazil.

If a host for COP29 cannot be agreed on, the location could revert to Bonn, Germany, where the UN’s climate secretariat is headquartered.

Germany’s climate envoy declined to say if the country was in such discussions.

“We are expecting and hopeful that the East European group will come to a conclusion. So we’re just watching that space,” climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said. REUTERS