Australia ‘COPs’ spray from Fatma Varank on call to send assistant minister to Brazil

Turkey’s chief climate negotiator has highlighted Australia’s decision to send an assistant minister to the COP30 leaders’ summit in Brazil as an illustration of why it shouldn’t get hosting rights in 2026.

Fatma Varank’s criticism comes amid an ongoing clash between the two nations over next year’s UN climate change summit — the Conference of the Parties (COP31).

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese both skipped the key leaders’ meetings in the Brazilian city of Belem last week.

Instead, Turkey sent its vice president Cevdet Yılmaz, while Australia sent Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen only joined the international forum this week.

“Our country was represented at the leaders summit by (Türkiye) vice president (Cevdet Yılmaz), while Australia did not participate at the same level,” Ms Varank said, according to a translation.

COP’s location rotates through five groups of countries. The 2026 conference will be hosted by the 28-nation Western European and Others Group block, which includes Turkey and Australia.

Under UN rules, the group must make a consensus decision on the location of the meeting. If a unanimous decision can’t be reached, the conference will default to the UN climate organisation’s headquarters in the Germany city of Bonn.

Mr Albanese has claimed Australia has the “overwhelming support” of other nations and should be allowed to co-host the summit with Pacific Island nations to highlight their plight on the frontline of the climate crisis.

“We have put forward, in good faith, a bid to host COP31 with our friends in the Pacific. And that’s about promoting the interests of the Pacific,” Mr Albanese told a press conference in Perth on Tuesday evening.

“We’ve worked hard on this. We’ve run our bid all the way to the Belem conference that’s taking place at the moment. We think that there is substantial support for the bid by Australia and the Pacific.

“But this is a difficult situation because of the rules and the way that they operate. And at this stage, there’s still, of course, two countries in the field, Australia and Turkey.

“They’re both being put forward with good faith, and we’re trying to work through those issues.”

In an interview with news broadcaster AnewZ on Monday evening, Ms Varank said Turkey had the support of nations both within their grouping and outside it.

She also claimed that Turkey had been the negotiating partner proactively offering compromises and accused Australia of “stepping back”.

“We have consistently been the side taking the initiative in negotiations while Australia has often taken a step back,” she said.

“I believe the side seeking consensus will prevail as other countries can see this.

“We have never shied away from negotiations., nor from organising a joint COP. A consensus text had been agreed but later Australia withdrew from it and expressed their intention to hold a Pacific COP.

“Türkiye has clearly demonstrated its willingness and desire to host the COP. We believe Türkiye is very close to achieving this and we’re confident we will succeed.

“Many countries are supporting us both within Türkiye’s group and from outside.”

Mr Albanese added on Tuesday that it would be a “considerable concern” if COP defaulted to Bonn — an outcome Germany is also trying to avoid. It’s estimated it could cost Australia up to $2 billion to host the meeting in Adelaide next year.

He vowed Australia was continuing to engage with other nations to convince Turkey to withdraw from the contest.

To counter the PM’s claims that an Australian COP in 2026 would benefit other small Pacific nations, Ms Varank argued that it would be the nation best placed to bridge the divide between developing and developed nations.

She said Turkey had also vowed to prioritise Pacific concerns if it was the host nation.

“We believe we’ll be the voice for many developing countries. Türkiye also has the potential to act as a bridge between developed and developing countries. We consider Türkiye to be one of the few countries capable of doing this,” she said.

“We have communicated that we respect their concerns and will address them within the COP agenda.”