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Türkiye is set to host next year’s COP31 climate summit in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the withdrawal of Canberra’s bid.
Despite Australia's statements that the negotiations were conducted in good faith, media reports suggest that the talks have been tense over the last couple of weeks.
“What has been agreed is that (Climate Change Minister) Chris Bowen, Australia, will be COP President for Negotiations. The conference and the COP Presidency will go to Türkiye, and there'll be a pre-COP meeting, particularly focusing on climate financing in the Pacific and the Pacific Resilience Facility, in the lead-up to COP next year, held in the Pacific,” Albanese told the Australian public broadcaster ABC Radio Perth.
He labelled the agreement as “a big win for both Australia and Türkiye.”
“The rules of the climate conferences are that they’ve got to be done by consensus,” he said. “If it wasn’t a consensus, then it would have gone to Bonn in Germany.”
Pacific islanders decried on Thursday a wasted chance to draw eyes to their climate troubles after their bid to co-host next year's COP climate summit was brushed aside, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We are all not happy. And disappointed it's ended up like this," Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko told AFP after Australia announced it would back down.
Instead, Tkatchenko said Pacific islands were once again let down by the bureaucratic COP machinery.
"What has COP achieved over the years. Nothing," said the diplomat.
One of the South Pacific nations most immediately threatened by climate change is Tuvalu, a string of low-lying isles roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Former Tuvalu prime minister Bikenibeu Paeniu told AFP that missing out on COP was a huge loss for the region.
"The Pacific countries should seriously remodel their relationship with Australia.
Australia has been campaigning to host COP31 alongside Pacific island nations. The bid is backed by the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum.
However, the Australian government was divided over whether to proceed with the bid, amid estimates that hosting could cost up to $1.3 billion.
Before the withdrawal, Albanese had said that even if Australia were to withdraw its bid, it would still seek to highlight the plight of Pacific nations.
“What we would seek to do is to ensure that the Pacific benefited from that, through measures, potentially like a leaders meeting, to be held in the Pacific,” he said.
Türkiye has positioned itself as a bridge between developed and developing nations and is campaigning for an inclusive and results-oriented summit aligned with its 2053 net-zero goal.
“Climate action should not be confined to negotiation tables,” said Halil Hasar, Türkiye’s climate change director at the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change.
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, speaking at the COP30 Leaders Summit, echoed the message, saying Türkiye is ready to serve as a bridge between the global north and south.
We do not want negotiations dominated by self-interest and lacking empathy,” Yilmaz said.
“Türkiye understands the perspectives of both developed and developing nations. We are engaged in intensive talks about hosting COP31 and are fully committed to making it a summit where all voices are heard," he added.
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