Albanese puts COP31 truce on the table after blast from Turkey
The Prime Minister has signalled he is prepared to cede the hosting of next year’s UN climate conference to Turkey, but says he wants to salvage some benefits for Pacific Island countries.
Anthony Albanese has signalled his government is prepared to cede the hosting of next year’s UN climate conference to Turkey but says he wants to salvage some benefits for Pacific Island countries.
The Prime Minister was yet to withdraw Australia’s bid but said on Tuesday that if Turkey was preferred by delegates at this year’s COP (Conference of the Parties) then Australia would not challenge the decision.
He said there was “considerable concern” in the international community that the impasse between Canberra and Ankara would see the 2026 COP default to the German city of Bonn, as required by UN rules.
“And if Australia is not chosen, if Türkiye (Turkey) is chosen, we wouldn’t seek to veto that,” he said.
“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, by support for the financing (of climate resilience).”
It was unclear exactly how Mr Albanese proposed to break the deadlock, as the COP host is decided by consensus rather than a vote.
He said both countries remained “in the field”, having put forward bids in good faith.
His comments came after Turkey has accused Australia of frustrating prospects for a compromise deal, arguing Canberra had “stepped back and stalled the process”.
Turkey’s Deputy Climate Change Minister Fatma Varank declared in the host city of Belem on Monday, local time, that the country wasn’t backing down, and Australia had repeatedly rebuffed offers to split hosting duties next year.
“Throughout the two-year candidacy process, the side seeking compromise has always been Türkiye,” she said.
Ms Varank said Turkey had agreed to host pre-COP meetings in Pacific Island states – which are backing Australia’s bid – in recognition of their climate challenges.
“Türkiye has always stood with vulnerable peoples,” she said. “We will continue a constructive approach in global climate negotiations.”
Australia’s plan to host the COP31 summit in Adelaide next year has been put at up to $2bn,
Climate Minister Chris Bowen declared at COP30 in Brazil that the government was still “in it to win it” and its bid had “majority support”.
Mr Bowen said Australia had an “important contribution” to make as COP31 president. “Adelaide will be a great host. We are fighting hard. We don’t know how it will go, but we are in it to win it,” he said.
Delivering Australia’s national statement to COP30 delegates, Mr Bowen acknowledged the Pacific’s support for Australia’s bid.
“Friends, we are less than 50 months away now from 2030, and if there’s one region that’s been leading the drive for collective climate action, courage and conviction, it’s the Pacific,” he said.
“That’s why if Australia hosts COP31, it will be in partnership with the Pacific. In hosting COP31, we want to bring the world to our region to see the impacts of climate change and bring the world’s best innovators and businesses to invest in solutions.”
Mr Bowen said climate action had become “the engine room of global growth”, and the global community needed to be “unrelenting in our collective efforts to realise the goals of the Paris Agreement”.
He laid out Australia’s climate policy commitments, including the nation’s new 2035 target to cut carbon emissions to 62-70 per cent below 2005 levels.
“It’s both ambitious and achievable. It’s a magnet for investment in our clean energy transition,” Mr Bowen said.
He added that Australia’s renewables rollout “continues at speed”, with clean energy overtaking coal as the nation’s largest electricity source in September.
His address came days after the Liberal Party abandoned its commitment to net zero while opting to remain in the Paris Agreement.
The government said the move would undermine investment in the energy sector. But its energy transition has continued to frustrate consumers, with Australian Bureau of Statistics’ inflation data revealing energy prices had jumped by nearly 25 per cent in the 12 months to August.
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