The solution to the tug-of-war between Australia and Turkey in recent months was negotiated during a meeting during the ongoing COP30 in Brazil. The proposal will now be formally voted on.
Although Australia will not be hosting, Chris Bowen will be the chairman. According to him, this is so that the proposal for the event will receive sufficient support and so that Bonn, Germany, will not automatically be awarded the hosting rights.
"Australia has a lot of support, including in the meeting that was just held. The process looks like anyone can file a protest and then the hosting automatically goes to Bonn," Bowen said during a press conference.
“Waste of time”
Australia will also hold a climate summit ahead of COP31 together with several Southern Ocean countries, according to the agreement.
Papua New Guinea, however, expresses its disappointment with the agreement.
"We are not happy at all. We are disappointed that it ended like this," the country's Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko told AFP.
He launches a harsh attack on the entire climate conference, calling it a "waste of time."
What has the COP accomplished over the years? Nothing. It's just talk and doesn't hold those with large emissions accountable.
Was an election promise
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has wanted to improve the image of a country with many large emissions, and hosting the COP was one of his promises before the election in May.
According to the ABC, the ambition was that the meeting would draw attention to the climate threats facing the Southern Ocean countries – and thereby give Australia a lot of goodwill among the many island nations and advance the country's positions there.
In 2027, the climate conference will be held in Ethiopia.
The UN climate summits, COP, are held in different locations each year. COP stands for "Conference of the Parties" and refers to the parties to the UN Climate Convention.
The first climate summit COP1 was held in Berlin, Germany, in 1995.
At the meeting in Kyoto, Japan in 1997, the first global climate agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, was negotiated.
In the 2015 Paris Agreement, most of the world's countries agreed to keep the increase in global average temperature well below 2 degrees, and preferably below 1.5 degrees, compared to pre-industrial times. This will be done primarily by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
COP30 will be held in Belém, Brazil, from November 10 to 21.
