UN urges Australia and Turkey to resolve host dispute for COP31

On Monday, the UN climate chief urged Australia to settle its long-running dispute with Turkey over hosting next year's COP31 Summit. He called the delay unhelpful. Both Australia and Turkey have submitted bids for the highly-publicized conference in 2022, but neither has conceded to the other since. Simon Stiell said that the deadlock undermined preparations. He is the executive secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change which oversees COP Summits. He said that a decision must be taken very quickly at an event of the Smart Energy Council in Sydney. The two proponents must come together, both within and outside the group. Delaying the decision will not help in the process. The UN's annual talks rotate between five regional groups. The 28 members of Western Europe and Others Group's (WEOG) bloc must unanimously agree on the host for COP31. The UN set June as the deadline for reaching a consensus. Australia wants to co-host the summit next year with Pacific in order to show off its renewable energy transformation. The bid has the majority support among WEOG members. It was hoped that it would be secured at COP29, in Azerbaijan. Turkey, however, has refused to give up the race and instead redoubled its efforts at interim talks held in Bonn earlier this month. Turkey claims that its Mediterranean location will help reduce emissions on flights carrying delegates to this conference. It also points out its smaller oil-and-gas industry in comparison to Australia. Stiell stated that the deadlock is now affecting the COP planning, which involves thousands of delegates coming from 200 countries. He said that in negotiations as complex as these, the lack of clarity created tensions at this point that were unnecessary.

When asked for comment, Chris Bowen's office referred to a recent interview in which he stated that Australia's bid was supported by 23 of the 28 members of WEOG. He said that Australia had approached Turkey several times in order to find a win-win solution. "We have the votes." We could have every vote in the world. Bowen said on The Conversation Politics Podcast that if Turkey does not withdraw, it is still a problem. Stiell called for Australia to also set a 2035 emission target and accelerate the clean energy transition at the same event. He said that Australia's climate plan due in September would be "a defining moment", which could send the message that "this nation is open to clean investment, trade and long-term partnership", he added. (Reporting and editing by Stephen Coates in Sydney)

(source: Reuters)