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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in September as both countries press their rival bids to host the 2026 United Nations climate summit, Australian media reported Saturday.
According to ABC News (Australia), the two leaders are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York later this month to try to resolve the dispute over hosting rights for COP31, formally known as the 31st Conference of the Parties.
Australia and Türkiye have been locked in a two-year standoff over who should host the summit, which is expected to draw more than 20,000 delegates. Both countries submitted bids in 2022 and have refused to step aside.
U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell in July urged the two governments to resolve the impasse, warning that the deadlock was undermining preparations for the high-profile event.
“A decision needs to be made very quickly,” Stiell said at a Smart Energy Council event in Sydney.
“The two proponents need to come together … The delay in making that decision is unhelpful to the process.”
The summit’s host must be unanimously agreed upon by the 28 members of the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG) bloc, which missed a June deadline to reach consensus.
Australia has promoted a joint bid with Pacific nations to highlight its renewable energy transition. The proposal reportedly enjoys majority support among WEOG members.
Türkiye, however, has emphasized its record in hosting major international events and the benefits of Antalya as a venue, including its Mediterranean location, which officials argue would reduce emissions from long-haul flights.
Ankara also points to its smaller oil and gas industry compared to Australia.
President Erdogan reaffirmed Türkiye’s bid at COP29 in Azerbaijan last year, noting that the country aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2053.
He highlighted progress on renewables, saying Türkiye has raised the share of renewable energy in installed capacity to 59%, ranking fifth in Europe and 11th globally.
Erdogan said Türkiye will increase wind and solar capacity from 31,000 megawatts to 120,000 megawatts by 2035 and nuclear energy capacity to 20,000 megawatts by 2050.
The COP31 summit will follow COP30 in Brazil in 2025, where countries are due to present updated 2035 climate targets.
The event is viewed as a critical milestone in global efforts to keep warming within the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree Celsius (34.7 Fahrenheit) target.
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