COP 31: Turkey will host UN climate summit after coming to a compromise with rival Australia

Turkey will host COP31 after coming to a compromise with rival bidder Australia following more than two years of negotiations over who will hold the 2026 climate conference.

Australia’s Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced on Thursday that as part of the deal, he has been appointed COP31 president and that a Pacific destination will host a “pre-COP” event.

He admitted some people would be “disappointed” with the outcome of the stand-off but insisted people would be “more disappointed” if the conference defaulted to Germany’s city of Bonn.

“Obviously, it would be great if Australia could have it all, but we can’t have all,” Mr Bowen said at a press conference from the current UN climate conference in Brazil.

“It was important to strike an agreement with Turkey. I believe the model that I’ve talked about; pre-COP in the Pacific, Australia as president of the COP for the purposes of negotiations … and the COP being held in Turkey and therefore avoiding it going to Germany is a model which achieves those objectives.”

After first launching its bid in 2022, Australia maintained it had the backing from most countries to hold next year’s conference in Adelaide.

Turkey, however, also argued its bid was well supported and remained firm that it should get hosting rights after losing out to Glasgow for COP26 in 2021.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted the failed bid was still a “big win” because a settlement reached with Turkey will still see Australia playing a leading role.

“What we did is come up with an outstanding result. The fact that we have managed to secure a significant role for the Pacific as part of this, that’s enough to offset the loss of Adelaide as host,” the PM told an interview in Perth on Thursday.

“Part of that will be a ‘pre-COP’ meeting to be held in the Pacific at a location to be determined by our Pacific family friends.

“That will enable us to invite world leaders to make sure that the issues confronting this region … will be front and centre, so it’s an outstanding outcome.”

The PM thanked Turkey for an “constructive engagement”, adding that both parties had reached a compromise “in the interests of climate change action”.

The PM declined to say how much the government had spent on the failed hosting bid, only admitting it was a “relatively small amount” which promoted Adelaide to the world.

But South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas on Thursday had a notably more sour tune to Australia yielding to Turkey, labelling the process to bid for COP hosting rights as “quite frankly obscene”.

Mr Malinauskas said it was “disappointing” Adelaide won’t have the chance to host the event after Australia had to “navigate the quite frankly obscene process that exists internationally”.

“It’s very clear that the rest of the world largely would have preferred COP to be in Adelaide,” he said.

“It’s really disappointing that Turkey’s expression to veto despite the will of the rest of the world.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the Federal government shouldn’t have considered hosting COP when the price tag was estimated to reach $2 billion as Australian household energy bills rise.

She also described COP — the world’s main conference to work together to tackle climate change — as a “talkfest” and a “largely symbolic gathering”.

“I think Turkey is doing the Australian Government a big favour because we had a $12 billion deficit last year,” Ms Ley said.

“We’re heading to a $42 billion deficit this coming year, and meanwhile, this prime minister wants to spend $2 billion on hosting a talkfest here in this country?”

“The COP summit is a largely symbolic gathering. This exercise just goes to show how their priorities are all wrong.

“Chris Bowen is very disappointed today I am sure but Australians should be very pleased with the decision that was taken away from this country and made overseas.”

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said after Coalition voted to dump net zero in favour for a more energy bill-conscious policy, that whatever Ms Ley said climate change should be taken with a “pinch of salt”.

“This is a leader who is a dead woman walking. Sussan Ley ... cannot get a credible climate policy through her own party room. So whatever Susan Ley says is (taken with) a pinch of salt,” she said.

Greens leader Larissa Waters accused Labor of wanting to host COP as part of a “half-hearted greenwashing effort” to distract the world from the impact Australia’s coal and gas was having on the Pacific.

“This is an embarrassing outcome, but it was clear from the start that the government didn’t really want to host a climate summit,” Senator Waters said.

“The world sees the massive disconnect between Labor’s words and actions. Losing this climate conference is the result.”