Turkey will host 2026 UN Climate Change Conference following a compromise arrangement reached with Australia.
Gatekeepers News reports that the announcement was made on Wednesday during the ongoing COP30 in Belém, where Australia’s climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, outlined the terms of the agreement designed to prevent the conference from defaulting to Bonn, Germany.
Under the deal, Turkey will serve as the physical host of COP31, while Australia will oversee all negotiation processes. Bowen, as president of the negotiations, will be responsible for appointing co-facilitators, preparing draft text, and issuing the final cover decision.
He explained that a pre-COP session will be held in a Pacific Island nation as a pledging forum for the Pacific Resilience Fund, a major demand from Pacific countries.
Bowen said the arrangement ensures that Australia’s goals are met while preserving confidence in the UN climate system.
He said to reporters, “Consensus means if someone objected to our bid, COP31 would automatically go to Bonn with no president in place. That would be irresponsible. This agreement avoids that outcome.”
The minister added that Turkey’s willingness to accept Australia’s leadership role represented a significant concession.
Australia’s bid had strong support from the Western European and Others Group, but Turkey’s formal objection, allowed under UN rules, halted consensus and triggered weeks of negotiations.
Without a resolution, the summit would have been held in Bonn without political leadership, a scenario many countries feared would weaken global climate diplomacy.
The eventual compromise resembles the Fiji-Germany arrangement at COP23 in 2017, where the presidency and hosting duties were split.
The Western European and Others Group is expected to formalise the joint arrangement soon. With that approval, preparations for COP31 will proceed in Turkey, while Australia leads negotiations and a Pacific nation hosts the pre-COP event.
The 2026 summit is anticipated to prioritize fossil fuel transition strategies, climate finance for vulnerable nations, and implementation of key decisions from COP30.
