Turkey to Host COP31 After Deal With Australia

Another Global Summit, Another Authoritarian Makeover

(Horizon Weekly) – Turkey will host next year’s United Nations climate summit, COP31, after striking a compromise with Australia, which agreed to withdraw its bid in exchange for taking on the leadership of the summit’s negotiations. The decision, confirmed during COP30 in Brazil, hands Ankara a major global platform at a time when its domestic political climate remains heavily restricted.

The announcement closely mirrors the lead-up to COP29 in 2024, when Azerbaijan secured the hosting rights after reaching a deal with Armenia. That summit was widely viewed as an effort by Baku to soften its international image despite its sweeping political repression, fossil-fuel dependency, genocidal aggression against Artsakh and the ongoing detention of Armenian hostages. Rather than showcasing genuine climate progress, the event became a symbol of how authoritarian states can leverage global prestige to sidestep scrutiny.

Turkey’s COP31 presidency raises similar concerns. The country continues to face serious criticism for its sustained pressure on journalists, the suppression of protests, and the criminalization of political opposition. Granting Ankara the stage of a world climate conference risks enabling another round of image-polishing by a government that has tightened its grip on public life.

With Azerbaijan’s COP29 still fresh in global memory, the decision to hand COP31 to another government with a record of suppressing dissent reinforces a troubling pattern: prestigious environmental summits are increasingly being used not to advance climate accountability, but to rehabilitate the reputations of governments that silence criticism at home.

As Turkey begins preparations for COP31, the challenge will be ensuring the summit does not become another exercise in greenwashing, where international visibility substitutes for meaningful democratic reform and genuine climate commitment.