The COP31 climate summit is expected to be held in Turkey after Australia withdrew its bid to host the event.
Both the countries needed to agree on where to host COP31, but neither wanted to step aside at first.
After negotiations at COP30 in Brazil, Australia agreed to support Turkey’s bid with the condition that their climate minister, Chris Bowen will chair the talks.
According to the United Nations rules, the 2026 COP hosting rights go to a group of countries including Western Europe, Australia and others.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the agreement with Turkey as an “outstanding result” in an interview with ABC.
However, Papua New Guinea's Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko told the AFP news agency "we are all not happy. And disappointed it's ended up like this."
Australia had strongly advocated hosting summit in Adelaide, saying they would co-host it with Pacific island nations, which are particularly vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels.
While, Turkey wanted to host COP31 in Antalya because they had given up hosting in 2021 for the UK.
The COP31 arrangements include a pre-COP meeting on a Pacific island, while the main summit will take place in Turkey.
