Turkiye to host COP31 after Australia concedes bid

Turkiye will host next year's COP31 in Antalya, ending a long standoff with Australia over the location of the top United Nations climate meeting.

Transcript

00:00The COP31 climate meeting is now expected to be held in Turkey

00:04after Australia dropped its bid to host the annual event.

00:08Under the UN rules, the right to host the summit in 2026

00:11falls to a group of countries made up of Western Europe, Australia and others.

00:17A consensus must be reached, but neither country had been willing to concede until now.

00:24Australia has agreed to back Turkey's bid in return for its minister chairing the talks.

00:28A deal struck during negotiations at the ongoing COP30 in Brazil.

00:33The arrangement is unusual, as COP presidents are normally from the host country,

00:38and how it will work in practice remains unclear.

00:42The compromise brings relief to delegates in Brazil,

00:44where the lack of agreement on the 2026 venue had become an embarrassment for the UN.

00:50Australia had pushed to host a summit in Adelaide,

00:53co-hosting with Pacific Island states vulnerable to climate change,

00:56while Turkey proposed Antalya, citing its decision to step aside in 2021 for the UK's Glasgow summit.

01:04Had no deal been reached, the summit would have defaulted to Bonn, Germany,

01:08the headquarters of the UN's climate body.