Climate Summit Drama!! Australia And Turkey Duke It Out Over Hosting The Shitshow In 2026

[hatrack]

No surprises here, but the draft text released on Friday included what can be read as confirmation that the Australia-Turkey stand-off over who will host Cop31 in 2026 will not be resolved in Baku and will be pushed into next year. The countries both announced their bids to host two years ago, and the public and private lobbying has escalated in recent weeks. Australia says it wants to host the event in partnership with Pacific island countries.

The Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, stopped in Ankara on his way to Azerbaijan to try to persuade his counterpart, Murat Kurum, to step aside. And the issue was raised during a meeting between the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on the sidelines of G20 in Brazil last week.

Australia is understood to have the support of at least 23 of the 29 members of the Western European and Others Group that will decide where the event is held, including the UK, US, Germany, France and Canada, but Turkey has doubled-down on its campaign. Its representatives have pointed to Australia’s substantial coal and gas exports – it is the third-biggest fossil fuel exporter – and suggested a federal election due by May next year raises uncertainty over the Australian bid.

Bowen responded publicly this week, telling the Guardian that “clarity would be good for everyone involved” – a diplomatic way of urging the Turkish to exit the race – and pointing out only six of 29 Cops have been held in the southern hemisphere. The last Cop in the Asia-Pacific was Bali in 2007.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2024/nov/23/cop29-talks-go-into-overtime-as-countries-wrangle-over-finance-deal-live-coverage