Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has reacted to the failure of a joint Australia-Pacific bid to host COP. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
The failure of a joint Australia-Pacific to host next year's global climate meeting is disappointing, New Zealand politicians say.
But climate change minister Simon Watts said the compromise agreed between Australia and Türkiye in its place is a better outcome than the COP summit defaulting to Germany.
Australia and Pacific nations jointly bid to host the 2026 summit in Adelaide, but have been in a months-long stand-off with a rival bid from Türkiye.
The meeting risked going to the default host city of Bonn in Germany if no agreement was reached before the end of this year's summit currently being held in Brazil.
Australia and Türkiye have now agreed that Türkiye will host the meeting and Australia will hold the COP presidency, which is responsible for setting the agenda.
There will be still a leaders' event in the Pacific ahead of the summit.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, whose government had supported the Australian and Pacific bid, said he was disappointed in the outcome.
"Bringing COP to the Pacific, with a Pacific view of the world and the issues we see in the region, would have been really important," he said.
"That's why we're such strong advocates of working with Australia and the Pacific Island nations to do so."
Simon Watts, who has just left this year's talks, said it was still "a more meaningful outcome than the COP defaulting to be held in Germany, which will happen if agreement is not reached".
"Australia has ensured a resolution that puts the multilateral system first and foremost in the midst of geopolitical uncertainty and ensures a substantive Pacific focus for COP31."
Labour's climate change spokesperson Deborah Russell, who accompanied Watts and the New Zealand delegation to this year's summit, said a Pacific-hosted COP would have focused attention on helping vulnerable nations pay for and adapt to climate change.
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