Compromise emerging at COP30 gives Turkey summit presidency in Antalya while Australia leads talks with a Pacific-focused push

Turkey will host next year’s UN climate summit while Australia will lead the negotiations among governments under a compromise deal taking shape at COP30 in Brazil, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday.

The arrangement would end a stand-off between Australia and Turkey over staging rights for COP31 after both countries bid in 2022 and refused to withdraw. Under the emerging deal, Turkey would preside over COP31 in the city of Antalya, with a pre-COP meeting in the Pacific and Australia taking charge of the negotiating process.

“What we’ve come up with is a big win for both Australia and Turkey,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp Radio, adding that the two sides now have about a year to prepare for the summit, which typically draws tens of thousands of participants and requires months of diplomatic work to build consensus around climate goals.

Australia’s climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen said at COP30 in Belem that “there’s a little way to go in these discussions”, but described the compromise as meeting Australia’s objectives. “It would be great if Australia could have it all. But we can’t have it all,” he said. “It was important to strike an agreement.”

Bowen said the deal would see him lead COP negotiations with “all the powers of COP presidency to manage, to handle the negotiations, to appoint co-facilitators, to prepare draft text, and to issue the cover decision”. The Turkish government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

David Dutton, director of research at the Lowy Institute and formerly Australia’s assistant secretary of climate diplomacy, said the outcome “alleviates some of the cost and burden of organizing the COP while creating opportunities for Australia and the Pacific to do something with it”.

Australia has pitched its role as a “Pacific COP”, working with low-lying island states and highlighting their exposure to climate change and sea-level rise. Turkey, which has framed its bid as that of an emerging economy, has said it wants its summit to promote solidarity between rich and poor countries with a more global focus.

Earlier this week, Albanese had ruled out a formal co-hosting model, citing UN rules that envisage one presiding country. A source familiar with the talks said there had been confusion over how far responsibilities for running negotiations could be shared, and whether this would be permissible under the UN framework.