Stand-off over UN climate summit host country for 2026

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A stand-off over the right to host the 2026 UN climate talks has cast a cloud over the close of the COP29 summit in Baku.

Australia and Turkey have spent nearly two years bidding to hold the COP31 conference due in 2026, By convention, a decision would be made by the close of the Baku summit, which is due to wind up late on Friday.

But, despite intense diplomatic jockeying, there was no decision in sight on Friday afternoon.

A person close to Turkey’s delegation in Baku said that talks were “ongoing” and might not be resolved until countries met again in Bonn next year at the UN climate change headquarters. “It’s not important to get a decision [during] this COP,” they said.

Countries take it in turns to host the annual UN talks, and it is up to a group of 29 mostly western European countries to choose the 2026 host. The 2025 summit will be held in Belém, Brazil, a decision made last year to give the organisers two years to organise the gathering of almost 200 countries.

“Clarity would be good for everyone involved,” Australia’s climate minister and COP29 lead negotiator, Chris Bowen, said this week.

“Out of the 29 COPs, six have been held in the southern hemisphere; 23 in the northern hemisphere. It’s time.”

The row has raised concerns about a repeat of the protracted battle that eventually led less than a year ago to the last-minute choice of Azerbaijan as host country for COP29.

This followed Russian opposition to EU contenders following the war on Ukraine, and peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Australia has the backing of more than 20 members of the decision-making group, according to people close to the process, including the US, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, Israel and New Zealand.

But the decision must be made by consensus, meaning even a big majority does not guarantee success.

Australia’s pitch for a “Pacific COP” has received strong support from the region. Palau president Surangel Whipps told the Baku meeting he hoped the Pacific would not be denied “this rare opportunity to help host what is the most important international forum for our future”.

New Zealand climate minister Simon Watts said a Pacific meeting would give nations there a chance to illustrate the consequences of global warming on vulnerable communities. “The Pacific are at the front lines, at the ground zero of the impacts of climate change,” he said.

Turkey has not budged despite extensive diplomatic efforts. Bowen visited Ankara en route to Baku in an attempt to break the impasse in time for Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, to seal a deal with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the G20 talks in Brazil last week.

But after the meeting, Turkey said it was determined to host COP31 and had an “ability to create a link between developed and developing countries”.

Bowen has also had multiple conversations with his Turkish ministerial counterparts since August 2023 to try to resolve the stand-off.

Sources from EU and south Asian countries said Turkey and Australia would have to come to an agreement between them about who would give way.

Canberra is understood to have offered Ankara the chance to lead talks on resilience at the COP31 talks if Australia hosts. Turkey suffered devastating earthquakes in February 2023 that killed more than 50,000 people.

However, Turkey has neither accepted that offer nor put any other suggestions to Australia, those close to the matter say.

Turkish media have questioned whether Australia’s role as a major fossil fuel exporter makes it an unsuitable host country. Bowen told reporters in Baku he was not going to comment on Turkey’s fossil fuel use.

“I’m very respectful of their right to bid. But we also have a story to tell about our transition and our ambition to be a renewable energy superpower,” he said.

Additional reporting by Attracta Mooney