JOHANNESBURG: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Saturday hailed a deal to share responsibility with Australia for next year’s UN climate summit, which will see Ankara host while Canberra oversees the formal negotiations.
“We are pleased to host COP31 in Turkey next November,” the Turkish president said in an address to leaders at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, hours after the two countries finalised a deal following a long-running standoff over the event. The unusual compromise was laid out in a document seen by AFP which is to be formally approved by consensus at the COP30 summit in Brazil.
“I believe the consensus we established together with Australia is of high importance,” Erdogan said. Both countries sought to host COP31 in November 2026 and neither would back down, sparking a bidding war rarely seen for the annual climate talks.
Australia enjoyed greater support than Turkey but the deadlock prevented a host from being chosen by consensus as required under United Nations rules.
Under the compromise, Turkey will host the two-week summit in the southern resort city of Antalya and retain the formal COP31 presidency, while Australia would serve as vice president and chair the negotiations. The “pre-COP” — technical consultations that usually occur about a month before the main summit — are to take place in a Pacific Island nation, in a nod to Australia’s original intention to co-host with its neighbours.
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