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Australia will bid with Pacific nations to host the United Nations climate summit in 2026, the Australian energy minister announced Saturday, as a new Labor government seeks to position the country as a renewable energy powerhouse on the world stage.
The government has also brought back the role of climate change ambassador, and appointed Kristen Tilly, who said she has more than a decade of experience in climate change policy, to work with other countries to tackle the climate crisis.
“This is an opportunity, of course, for Australia to remind the world that we are back,” Chris Bowen, Minister of Energy and Climate Change, told a news conference in Sydney about the bid to host the COP31 climate summit. We are back at the international table.”
“It’s an opportunity to work closely with our family in the Pacific, and we will seek to co-host the show with Pacific Ocean to help raise the ocean issue for more climate action,” he added.
Australia has lagged behind developed nations on its climate action, with the previous government of Scott Morrison resisting pressure to set more ambitious carbon targets at last year’s Glasgow climate summit.
Bowen is leading Australia’s delegation to the COP27 climate summit in Egypt from 6-18 November, the first summit of its kind for the newly elected Labor government that took office in May. The government also joined the Global Methane Pledge to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent.
WWF-Australia welcomed the government’s bid to co-host the COP31 climate talks, although it said Australia should also reconsider its position on allowing new developments in coal and gas.
Australia’s neighboring island nations in the South Pacific have said rising sea levels caused by climate change and severe storms are eroding their islands.
