Australia will not host the UN’s annual climate summit in 2026, instead yielding to a rival bid from Turkey.
Three years of campaigning to bring the COP31 climate talks to Adelaide, in partnership with Pacific nations, have been dashed during last-gasp negotiations at the 2025 event in Brazil.
While Australia had the overwhelming backing of the “Western” grouping to stage the 2026 event, under UN rules hosting rights are decided by consensus and negotiation, not a vote.
In a stand-off where Turkey was unwilling to stand down, with the closure of the 2025 summit as a deadline looming, Australia all but relinquished its goal.
Climate Minister Chris Bowen, Australia’s representative at the COP talks, confirmed a compromise model after discussions with Turkey.
Antalya, a Mediterranean resort city popular with Russian tourists, will host the summit while Mr Bowen will take the role of COP negotiations president, with a lead-up event hosted in the Pacific.
The result is a diplomatic disaster for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government, which has spent great energy and, most likely, tens of millions of dollars campaigning for the event.
Mr Bowen flew into Belem insisting Australia remained committed to the bid.
“We are in it and we are in it to win it,” he told attendees on Monday (AEDT).
At the same time back home, Mr Albanese appeared to grow cooler on the bid.
“If Australia is not chosen, if Turkiye (Turkey) is chosen, we wouldn’t seek to veto that,” he told reporters in WA on Tuesday.
As late as Thursday morning, Pacific Minister Pat Conroy insisted the government was still keen to host COP31, while conceding the diplomatic battle may not go Australia’s way.
The Turkish embassy in Australia said the Pacific would be taken into account.
“We will ensure that no one is left behind, particularly the regions that are most adversely affected by climate change including the Pacific,” the embassy said in a statement to AAP.
“The Mediterranean on the other hand, is a recognised climate hotspot warming 20 per cent faster than the global average, and facing growing threats from extreme heat, water scarcity and biodiversity loss.”
The embassy also argued Turkey was well-positioned to bridge the gap on climate policy between developed and developing nations.
Australia’s bid was first launched by Mr Bowen at the climate talks in 2022.
The ambition was lauded by climate advocacy organisations and by Pacific nations, who formally backed the bid and were promised a part of proceedings.
Mr Bowen said he kept Pacific hopes in his mind during the negotiations, with the compromise model including a “pre-COP” event in the Pacific which also acts as a pledging event for the Pacific Resilience Fund.
“Obviously, it would be great if Australia could have it all. But we can’t have it all,” he said on Thursday (AEDT).
Some critics of the bid, including Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, pointed at the likely cost of staging the summit, which had been estimated above $2 billion.
“I think Turkey is doing the Australian government a big favour,” she told the ABC on Thursday.
“We had a $12 billion deficit last year. 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?”
Greens leader Larissa Waters suggested the government’s pursuit of hosting rights was “greenwashing” its climate record.
“The PM never really wanted to host a climate conference that needed him to be honest about the future of coal and gas while his mining corp mates are watching,” she wrote on social media.
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