Australia’s appointed chief negotiator for the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties (COP31) climate summit has signalled a strategic push to engage oil-rich nations on the crucial issue of phasing out fossil fuels, emphasising diplomatic outreach to states that have historically resisted stronger emissions commitments.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, designated “President of Negotiations” for COP31 under an arrangement with Turkey — the host nation in Antalya — said that bridging divides with key producers such as Saudi Arabia will be central to negotiations ahead of next year’s global talks.

His focus on what he described as “engagement, engagement, engagement” aims to secure more meaningful commitments from major emitters and accelerate progress beyond the outcomes achieved at the recent COP30 summit in Brazil, where agreement on a comprehensive fossil fuel roadmap remained elusive.

Bowen’s remarks reflect mounting international expectations for COP31 to advance the global transition away from carbon-intensive energy systems, an agenda that gathered momentum when more than eighty countries, including Australia, endorsed the Belém Declaration to pursue a “just, orderly and equitable” phase-out of fossil fuels in Brazil.

Australia’s role as negotiator positions it to help craft texts and guide discussions, even as Bowen balances domestic challenges linked to the nation’s status as a major coal and gas exporter with diplomatic efforts to rally broader support for ambitious climate action.

The Australian government has highlighted that this leadership role offers an opportunity to elevate the voices of Pacific island states — highly vulnerable to climate impacts — through a pre-conference event in the Pacific and to demonstrate constructive engagement on both mitigation and adaptation.

Bowen stressed that effective diplomacy with countries that have not traditionally aligned with faster fossil fuel phase-out will be essential to achieving a more substantial COP31 outcome than the phase-down commitments reached in Dubai in twenty-twenty-three.