JOHANNESBURG: Turkey&#39;s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Saturday hailed a deal to share responsibility with Australia for next year&#39;s UN climate summit, which will see Ankara host while Canberra oversees the formal negotiations.&nbsp;&quot;We are pleased to host COP31 in Turkey next November,&quot; the Turkish president said in an address to leaders at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, hours after the two countries finalized a deal following a long-running standoff over the event.&nbsp;The unusual compromise was laid out in a document seen by AFP which is to be formally approved by consensus at the COP30 summit in Brazil.&nbsp;&quot;I believe the consensus we established together with Australia is of high importance,&quot; Erdogan said.&nbsp;Both countries sought to host COP31 in November 2026 and neither would back down, sparking a bidding war rarely seen for the annual climate talks.&nbsp;Australia enjoyed greater support than Turkey but the deadlock prevented a host from being chosen by consensus as required under United Nations rules.&nbsp;Under the compromise, Turkey will host the two-week summit in the southern resort city of Antalya and retain the formal COP31 presidency, while Australia would serve as vice president and chair the negotiations.&nbsp;The &quot;pre-COP&quot; -- technical consultations that usually occur about a month before the main summit -- are to take place in a Pacific Island nation, in a nod to Australia&#39;s original intention to co-host with its neighbors.

Asia

Turkey and Australia reached a compromise to jointly handle COP31 after a prolonged stalemate. Turkey will host the 2026 summit in Antalya and hold the presidency, while Australia will chair negotiations, with pre-COP talks set for a Pacific Island nation.

Articles tagged with "COP31"

Erdogan 'pleased' Turkey to host COP31 summit, hails deal with Australia