Australia’s hopes of hosting a “Pacific COP” have been dealt a major blow, with Turkey securing the bid for COP31, shattering the vision of bringing the world’s largest climate conference to the Pacific.

But Australia says the new arrangement still delivers key wins for the region.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says Australia’s bid was always driven by three motivations, to elevate Pacific voices, support multilateralism, and advance Australia’s own climate interests.

He says that while the conference itself will now be held in Turkey, the emerging model ensures the Pacific remains central to the global climate agenda.

Under the proposal, a pre-COP meeting will be hosted in a Pacific Island country, and will act as a pledging event for the Pacific Resilience Fund—a long-standing priority for Pacific leaders seeking predictable, accessible climate finance.

Bowen says this still achieves Australia’s core objectives.

“Obviously, it would be great if Australia could have it all. But we can’t. This process works on consensus. If someone objected to our bid, it would go to Bonn. That would mean 12 months with no COP President and no plan. That would be irresponsible for multilateralism.”

Bowen confirmed that under the compromise, Australia will take on the role of COP31 President for negotiations, even though Turkey will host the conference itself.

He says this arrangement prevents the event from defaulting to Germany, protects global climate momentum, and keeps the Pacific at the heart of pre-COP discussions.

Bowen acknowledges some may be disappointed, but insists the alternative would have been worse.

“Some people will be disappointed, but others would have been even more disappointed if it had gone to Bonn without a COP President in place.”

Despite losing the hosting rights, Australia maintains that the Pacific will still have a powerful platform and a critical funding opportunity through the pre-COP event.

“This story was produced as part of the 2025 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.”

Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.