Australia’s ambition to host the COP31 climate summit next year has been resolved through a diplomatic compromise with Turkey: Turkey will host the conference in the resort city of Antalya, while Australia will assume the presidency of negotiations.

After more than three years of campaigning for the rights to stage the summit—initially offering Adelaide in the state of South Australia as the venue—Australia withdrew its bid late Wednesday amid diplomatic deadlock with Turkey.

Australian Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the arrangement would feature a pre-summit event in a Pacific island nation and create a platform for Australia to steer the negotiations while Turkey hosts the main conference.

The compromise comes after months of stalemate: both nations submitted separate bids in 2022 and neither withdrew, creating an impasse since the decision required consensus by the Western Europe and Others Group of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Australia claimed broad backing but was unable to secure Turkey’s withdrawal, while Turkey insisted on remaining in contention.

The Australian bid had been framed as a major opportunity not only for Australia’s renewable-energy transition but also for bolstering the voices of Pacific island states facing existential climate threats.

The loss of hosting rights is being viewed with disappointment by clean-energy advocates and Pacific leaders who had anticipated a high-profile summit in the region.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the outcome as a “strong solution” for Australia, acknowledging the country would not host the main event but emphasising Australia’s new role puts it “in one of the strongest positions possible” in global climate diplomacy.

Observers note the arrangement is unusual: hosting and presidency duties are typically combined and seldom split in prior summits.

Nonetheless, the model may allow Australia to exert influence on the substance of the negotiations even without serving as host.

Some climate NGOs remain cautious, pointing to unresolved questions such as civil-society access, Turkey’s human-rights record and the capacity of the pre-COP event to elevate Pacific priorities.

Preparations now shift to finalising the deal’s details, obtaining formal endorsement by conference plenary, and delivering on Australia’s pledge of a Pacific-focused lead-in event.

With global momentum on emissions reduction and climate finance under strain, the next twelve months will test whether this hybrid hosting framework can deliver ambition and credibility in equal measure.