WHAT ABOUT COP31? FT. BULA COP31! (PART ONE)

COP 31 will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. While Türkiye will serve as host country, taking responsibility for the logistics and operations of the conference, Australia will lead the negotiations. To ensure Pacific interests remain at the heart of the summit, the Pre-COP will be hosted in Fiji, supported by the Government of Australia. This represents an unprecedented opportunity to bring the world to the Pacific to experience climate impacts and solutions firsthand.

In this collaborative, cross-continental episode, James and Daisy are joined by Jack Whelan and Heidi Dumesich, hosts of Bula COP31!, for an intergenerational conversation about the COP process.

For this first instalment, James is in the hot seat to share his learnings from what he’s seen on the ground at previous COPs. How can the COP presidency influence outcomes? How does geopolitics shape climate diplomacy? Is it time for structural reform of the process?

SOME RECOMMENDATIONS:

• BulaCOP31! – To learn more about what it means for Australia and Türkiye to co-host COP31, listen to Jack and Heidi’s podcast.

OTHER ADVOCATES AND RESOURCES:

• COP31 – Türkiye will be the formal COP31 President, handling all operational and logistical requirements, and the conference and the World Leaders Summit will be physically hosted by Türkiye in the city of Antalya. However, Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, will serve as the President of Negotiations. This role is vested with "exclusive authority in relation to the negotiations," covering the agenda, draft texts, and appointment of co-facilitators. This arrangement was devised to avoid a prolonged diplomatic impasse, which would have automatically defaulted the conference to Bonn, Germany, risking a year without focused political negotiation leadership.

• Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) – An intergovernmental organization representing small island nations on climate issues.
• BINGO (Business and Industry Non-Governmental Organizations) represents a formal constituency of business and industry observers at the UNFCCC.
• The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) – Founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum (SPF), PIF is an 18-member inter-governmental organisation which brings the region together to address pressing issues and challenges.
• The Carbon War by Jeremy Leggett – This book is an eyewitness account of the climate talks, and the way the fossil-fuel vested-interests (the “carbon club”) tried to derail them.

• The Precautionary Principle – A decision-making approach that emphasizes taking preventative measures when there's a reasonable possibility of harm, even if scientific evidence is not fully conclusive.
• UNFCCC (2017) – Just weeks before it hosted COP23, Fiji announced the issuance of a sovereign green bond, raising FDJ 100m (USD 50m) to support climate change mitigation and adaption.
• UNFCCC (2018) – Talanoa is a traditional word used in Fiji and across the Pacific to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. At COP23 (2017) under Fiji’s Presidency, the Talanoa Dialogue was launched, inviting everyone to engage in finding a solution.

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Music: “Just Because Some Bad Wind Blows” by Nick Nuttall, Reptiphon Records. Available at https://nicknuttallmusic.bandcamp.com/album/just-because-some-bad-wind-blows-3

Producer: Podshop Studios

Huge thanks to Siobhán Foster, a vital member of the team offering design advice, critical review and organisation that we depend upon.

Stay tuned for more insightful discussions on navigating the transition away from fossil fuels to a sustainable future.