Turkey has been named as the host for the next UN climate change conference, COP31, to be held this time next year.
Both Australia and Turkey had been vying to host the next event, with the Australian contingent arguing that it was critical to shine a light on the impact of climate change on Pacific island nations and the region. Turkey also put up a strong case arguing it had stepped aside as host of COP26 (ultimately held in Glasgow).
In the end a compromise has been reached that sees Australian Climate Minister, Chris Bowen, acting as President of COP31, while Turkey hosts the conference. A pre-COP will take place ‘on a Pacific island’ to allow a platform to focus on the region’s challenges.
It’s an unusual outcome, COP hosts usually preside over their summits, and it remains to be seen whether this two-nation solution allows for a cohesive global agenda to be driven that reflects needs of the global North and South, or whether its becomes a fudge, which is unlikely to be welcomed after this year’s COP30.
At COP30 itself, the need to drive forward progress and galvanise climate action is still awaiting a breakthrough moment. On Sunday the negotiations are due to close but much of the commentary around key moments has revolved around protests by indigenous groups and commentary about the political psychodrama around California Governor, Gavin Newsom, and his attendance and pitch for an alternative to Trumpian environmental policies.
Progress is still awaited on other key moments, such as investments into the Tropical Forests Forever Fund, and bold commitments from countries to accelerate climate action and emissions reductions. Negotiations tend to run late and we may have to wait until late Sunday / early next week to see if any meaningful progress has been made by country negotiation teams.
In other interesting developments this week, for the first time COP has been focusing on integrity of information around climate risk and launched a Declaration of Information Integrity on Climate, which aims to help prevent misinformation and ‘fake news’ on climate.
A sign of the times but equally as pressure grows on COP to deliver tangible progress (and galvanise countries to still progress on delivering carbon reduction, nature preservation and a just transition), Turkey will have much to deliver and needs to galvanise progress and a narrative that bridges a wide gap in climate support.