COP31 to be hosted in Antalya, Türkiye, with Australia leading talks

At the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025, governments settled a long-running dispute over who would host the next UN climate conference. Both Türkiye and Australia had bid for COP31, and under UN rules the host is normally chosen by consensus within a regional group, here the "Western European and Others" group.

The compromise split the roles. Türkiye would host the conference in Antalya, on its Mediterranean coast, in 2026, and its government would run the venue and the summit's organisation. Australia would hold the presidency of the negotiations, meaning it would chair the actual talks between countries. Australia was also expected to be given a pre-conference event in the Pacific, reflecting the concerns of island nations facing rising seas.

The arrangement was unusual because hosting and negotiating leadership are normally held by the same country. It mattered because it avoided a deadlock that could have forced the conference to be held at the UN climate secretariat's seat in Bonn, Germany, and it set the stage for the preparations in Antalya that followed.