Australia, Turkey in 2026 UN climate summit hosting standoff

By Kate Abnett, Gloria Dickie and Ali Kucukgocmen

BAKU (Reuters) - Australia and Turkey are in a standoff over which country is better suited to host United Nations climate change talks in 2026, with neither willing to give up on their bid.

Both countries have been in the running since 2022, but matters have come to a head at this year's COP29 summit being held this week in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Australia's climate minister made a last-minute stop in Turkey on Friday, his office confirmed, hoping to reach a deal on the Australian bid. However, Turkish officials declined to drop their bid and the two remain in talks.

The host has a central role in brokering compromises at the annual summit and steering the final phase of negotiations. This can deliver both diplomatic prestige and a global platform to promote the country's green industries.

The COP summit is the centrepiece of global climate diplomacy, where nearly 200 countries gather to negotiate joint plans and funding to avert the worst impacts of rising temperatures.

Every country has a shot at hosting, if they want to, as a member of one of five regional groups to take it in turns.

That system has drawn criticism as fossil fuel producers including the United Arab Emirates have played host - raising concerns among campaigners over whether countries which are deeply invested in polluting industries can be honest brokers of climate talks.

Fatma Varank, Turkey's deputy environment minister, told Reuters that the country's Mediterranean location would help reduce emissions from flights bringing delegates to the conference, and highlighted its smaller oil and gas industry compared with Australia.

Australia is among the world's largest exporters of fossil fuels. 

"We don't deny the fact that we have traditionally been a fossil fuel exporter, but we're in the middle of a transition to changing to export renewable energy," Australia's climate minister Chris Bowen told Reuters at COP29.

"We have a story to tell," he said, explaining that Australia was pitching a 'Pacific COP' to elevate issues affecting the region's vulnerable island states.

Turkey, which has a small oil and gas industry, gets around 80% of its energy from fossil fuels and was Europe's second-largest producer of coal-fired electricity in 2023.

It offered to host the COP26 talks in 2021 but withdrew its bid, allowing Britain to preside over the summit. Varank said Turkey was reluctant to step aside again.

Whoever wins would need unanimous backing from the 28 countries in the U.N.'s Western Europe and Others regional group. There is no firm deadline, although hosts are often confirmed years in advance to give them time to prepare.

Members including Germany, Canada and Britain have publicly backed Australia. Pacific leaders have backed Australia on the condition that it elevates the climate issues they suffer such as coastal erosion and rising seas.

Fiji's climate secretary Sivendra Michael told Reuters the country backed Australia's bid.

"But we are also cautiously reminding them of the national efforts that they need to make to transition away from fossil fuels," Michael said.

Turkey declined to say which members of the regional group had offered it support.  

(Reporting by Gloria Dickie and Kate Abnett in Baku; additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Alexander Smith)