Foreign Minister Penny Wong has refused to say how much it would cost Australia to hold the COP31 climate conference, as negotiations over hosting rights enter the final stages.<\/p>\n
Australia has pitched to hold next year’s meeting in Adelaide<\/a> in “partnership” with Pacific nations, but has been locked in a stand-off with T\u00fcrkiye for months, with both parties refusing to cede their bid.<\/p>\n Climate Minister Chris Bowen is currently at this year’s Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in the Amazonian city of Belem, where he will continue to push Australia’s case.<\/p>\n But even as the final decision on where the conference will be held looms, Senator Wong would not be drawn on the price tag if Australia’s bid is successful.<\/p>\n Some reports have put the potential cost at up to $2 billion, but the minister did not say whether that was accurate when it was put to her.<\/p>\n “I’m not going to comment on the costs of a conference that we haven’t won the bid for yet,” Senator Wong told ABC’s Insiders when asked repeatedly what the cost would be.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Obviously, those costs would be finalised, including with the state government and the scope of the bid.”<\/p>\n The foreign minister said she anticipated that there would be a resolution to the deadlock by the end of the coming week, when this year’s conference comes to a close.\u00a0<\/p>\n If both countries are unable to come to an agreement, hosting rights will default to the German city of Bonn, home of the United Nation’s committee.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to travel to the G20 summit in South Africa next weekend, where T\u00fcrkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan will also be in attendance.<\/p>\n Senator Wong said the prime minister was “looking forward” to seeing the president but would not say whether the issue would be raised.<\/p>\n “Obviously, what the Pacific want for the conference and what T\u00fcrkiye want are very different. So, we’re going to keep advocating for the Pacific COP,” she said.<\/p>\n “What I would say is, this does need to be resolved.”<\/p>\n Decision set for coming week<\/p>\n The government has already spent $7 million preparing to host the conference, Mr Bowen said on Saturday before he departed for Brazil.<\/p>\n He also confirmed that a decision would be made this week, noting that Australia had “overwhelming support” for its bid.<\/p>\n But because the decision was not made through a traditional ballot process, he said, the government would have to reach an agreement with T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n “That makes it difficult,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n “I’ll continue to have conversations with my Turkish counterparts in consultation with the Pacific over the next week or so, and we’ll see how we go.”<\/p>\n The government has said it wants to use COP31 to highlight urgent climate threats faced by Pacific nations and champion their calls for more ambitious action.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrkiye has previously proposed sharing the COP presidency with Australia<\/a>, but the ABC understands the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat has made it clear that co-presidencies are not permitted under its rules.<\/p>\n Climate change debate swirls at home<\/p>\n The last ditch push for COP comes as climate change and emissions reduction dominated domestic political debate, after the Liberal Party this week announced it would join the Nationals in ditching its commitment to reach net zero by 2050.<\/a><\/p>\n Senator Wong on Sunday characterised the opposition’s decision as “trying to outflank Pauline Hanson”.<\/p>\n “And what I’d say to Sussan Ley \u2014 and to Andrew Hastie and to Angus Taylor \u2014 is you can’t be more Pauline than Pauline,” she said.<\/p>\n