Türkiye to host 2026 UN climate summit after Australia’s bid fails

After Australia’s bid ended in failure, Türkiye will host next year’s UN climate conference.

Türkiye and Australia had been at odds over the location of the talks for more than a year, a stalemate that extended to the final day of the current climate summit in Belém, Brazil.

Had a solution not been found, next year’s summit would have defaulted to Germany, but Germany indicated it did not have enough time to plan the event properly.

Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen stated that while Türkiye will host the 2026 talks, Australia will hold the presidency and thus lead the diplomacy.

This means the island nation will possess all the powers of the climate summit (COP30) presidency.

According to POLITICO, a Turkish official, who wished to remain anonymous, said the final agreement would be announced on Thursday (November 20). Türkiye had proposed hosting the talks in Antalya.

This is a highly unusual arrangement for the annual climate conference, which normally has a single host and presidency. However, it is not unprecedented: in 2017, Germany hosted a conference led by Fiji.

“It would have been great for Australia to have everything, but we can’t have it all. This is also a significant concession for Türkiye,” Bowen said.

Bowen added that separate talks will be held in the Pacific before the summit to raise money to help the region cope with climate change.

German State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth, whose country chairs the Western European and Others Group that selects the host for next year’s talks under the UN’s rotational system, commented positively on the discussions.

“There was a positive spirit. It is extraordinary that two countries located at very different ends of the planet but in the same group have reached an agreement,” Flasbarth said.

“It’s an ugly solution,” said a European diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential talks. “Türkiye just wants the show and doesn’t really care about the substance, whereas the Australians do care but won’t control the event and logistics.”

Türkiye aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2053. This date was chosen for its symbolic significance—600 years after the conquest of Istanbul—rather than for scientific reasons.

This year, Ankara presented a new climate target under which its emissions will increase by approximately 16% by 2035. The country surpassed Poland last year to become Europe’s largest coal user and is pursuing the goal of accelerating gas exploration to become a regional transit hub.

Australia had received support from the United Kingdom, some European countries, and the Pacific region, with which it had planned to co-host the summit.

However, during a series of lengthy meetings on Wednesday, Australia was unable to persuade Türkiye to back down.

Australia was the favorite to host the talks in the city of Adelaide. But on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stepped back, saying his country would not block Türkiye’s hosting bid if Ankara were to prevail.

His office later clarified that he meant Australia expected Türkiye to do the same if Australia won the contest.