British News Agency

Turkey’s win was broader than what Australia had acknowledged earlier this week. An Australian minister had claimed that diplomacy during the negotiations would be entirely controlled by Australia.

Australia’s Climate Minister Chris Bowen told reporters on Wednesday: “I will have all the powers of the COP presidency.”

However, according to the agreement text published Friday on the UN climate website, the COP31 presidency will be granted to Turkey. The Australian representative will take on a less significant and not fully defined role as “Chair of Negotiations,” who will hold “exclusive authority” over negotiating matters.

The agreement states that if disagreement arises between Turkey and Australia, consultations will continue until a mutually satisfactory solution is reached.

This unusual arrangement followed more than a year of dispute between the two countries over who should host the 2026 talks. Turkey sought the role on behalf of developing nations, while Australia positioned itself as the defender of endangered Pacific Islands.

Alden Meyer, senior partner at the think tank E3G, said: “This has never been done before. There has never been joint presidency.”

Although Bowen described himself as the Australian representative, the agreement made it clear that he did not have the authority to make that decision. Turkey would appoint an Australian representative to the role.

Turkey had proposed hosting the negotiations in the Mediterranean city of Antalya. Recent UN climate summits were held in Dubai in 2023, in Baku, Azerbaijan last year, and this month in the Amazon port city of Belém, Brazil.