Delay in choosing COP31 host city poses challenge to Adelaide's preparations

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

Adelaide is ramping up preparations for next year's major UN climate summit despite not yet being named the host city, with experts warning that the uncertainty could pose logistical and diplomatic challenges.
The South Australian government has allocated more than $8 million to prepare for COP31 and had anticipated that a host nation could be chosen as early as November last year.
But Australia remains locked in a diplomatic stalemate with Türkiye over hosting rights for the November 2026 event, with the rival bidding nation yet to drop out.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell has urged the two countries to resolve the impasse, saying a decision "needs to be made very quickly" both for logistical reasons and to ensure a negotiating agenda can be agreed on.
"The delay in making that decision is unhelpful to the process — we need clarity," he told a Smart Energy Council Summit two weeks ago.
Lasting about a fortnight, COP31 will bring together tens of thousands of delegates — including heads of state — to thrash out new climate agreements and track progress on the old ones.
The "Conference of the Parties" is the main decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
It includes representatives from all 198 countries that are party to the convention.
But with only 15 months until the summit, the scope for organising an "ambitious" negotiating agenda is shrinking, according to Dr Wesley Morgan, research associate at the Institute for Climate Risk and Response at UNSW.
"There would still be very much expectations that Australia has an ambitious agenda showing the world how to transition away from fossil fuels to the clean energy industries of tomorrow.
"The runway is getting shorter, but Australia very much can still achieve a very ambitious summit."
COP31, Dr Morgan added, would be Australia's "biggest event since the 2000 Olympics in Sydney".
He said it was not unprecedented for a host nation to be chosen only 12 months out.
Australia remains "in the box seat" for COP31, Dr Morgan said, noting that it has majority support from its regional UN grouping — the Western European and Others Group.
He said Australia needs to reach an arrangement with Türkiye to convince them to drop out, as the hosting rights decision is made by consensus, not a vote.
September's meeting of the UN General Assembly looms as the next potential decision point, Dr Morgan said.
If not then, a decision "would definitely need to happen" this November at COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
"There are provisions if there continues to be a stalemate, but let's hope it doesn't get to that point," he said.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said last week that the UNFCCC process is "pretty opaque in terms of how a dispute gets resolved between two countries".
He said Australia's bid has "overwhelming support" but there is still work to do.
The South Australian government says it is continuing to prepare for COP31, which Premier Peter Malinauskas has described as "unlike anything we [South Australia] have ever hosted before".
The government set aside more than $8 million in June's state budget for COP31 preparations, with those funds gradually being expended despite no decision on a host city.
SA Police also has a dedicated COP31 preparation team that has grown to 18 police officers, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said last week.
"We can't afford to wait for the UN to make a decision regarding the host city," he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
Commissioner Stevens said if Adelaide does host COP31, SA Police will be "borrowing resources from every police jurisdiction around Australia and New Zealand" to manage security and event management.
Total COP attendance — comprised of delegates, observer groups and media — has fluctuated between 20,000 and 70,000 people over the past five years, according to the UNFCCC.
Adding to the security challenge is the likely presence of dozens of world leaders.
Sam Dighton, CEO of the Committee for Adelaide think tank, said security preparations were ""clearly ... a challenge for an event of this scale".
"But we know that government is preparing both at a federal and state level, preparations are underway to deal with this certainly also from an emergency services perspective," he said.
The Adelaide Convention Centre will host the bulk of COP31 events if Australia is chosen, with the government flagging that a "designated secure zone and public event area" will form part of the hosting arrangements.
The premier has previously said the Convention Centre takes bookings four years in advance, creating another time challenge.
"For the poor people that I have imposed this on, it is actually terrifying," he told a budget estimates committee in June.
"They have got no choice but to get to work under the assumption that we may get this.
"If we do not find out until later in the year, hypothetically, that we get it, then the window will almost be too small for us to start to do any preparatory work."
On Wednesday the Premier said the government had "no choice" but to get on with preparations as this was "pretty much the next biggest event in a single city outside of the Olympics".
"We start those preparations not presumptively, but pragmatically," he said. "Given that if we want to host the event as well as we know we can, that we're not caught out by a late decision ... about which country is going to host the event." Mr Malinauskas said "the best thing that can happen here" is a quick decision on hosting rights. "Because then it allows for the respective host city and country to get on with the task," he said. "I just hope there's a resolution soon."