{"id":187715,"date":"2025-04-16T09:23:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T09:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/activist\/hosting-cop31-a-critical-opportunity-for-australia-and-the-pacific\/"},"modified":"2025-04-16T09:23:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T09:23:24","slug":"hosting-cop31-a-critical-opportunity-for-australia-and-the-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=187715","title":{"rendered":"Hosting COP31: A critical opportunity for Australia and the Pacific\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton has called the prospect of co-hosting COP31 \u201cmadness,\u201d<\/a> Labor Energy Minister Chris Bowen has called it \u201ca great opportunity<\/a>.\u201d But what even is COP31, and why is everyone talking about it? Let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n

What is COP31?<\/h2>\n

COP stands for \u201cConference of the Parties<\/a>\u201d and refers to the annual meetings where representatives from countries around the world gather to review and progress the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Or in other words, where world leaders come together to assess global progress on tackling the climate crisis, and finding solutions to things like how countries can adapt to climate impacts.<\/p>\n

The first COP was held in 1995. This year will be the thirtieth meeting, or COP30, and COP31 will take place in 2026. 198 countries have ratified the UNFCCC, and therefore attend the COP negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

COP should be for the people, not fossil fuel corporations<\/h2>\n

The COP meetings aren\u2019t only government negotiations behind closed doors. In 2023, over 83,000<\/em> people attended COP28<\/a> in Dubai. Activists, environmental groups, corporations and the media come from far and wide to participate in the events that take place around the negotiations\u00a0or to protest outside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"COP
COP 28 Delegation in Dubai \u00a9 Marie Jacquemin \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is because of the COP that we now have the Paris Agreement \u2013 a legally binding treaty adopted by 195 countries<\/a> to work together to limit global temperature increase to well below 2C, ideally to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. This near universal cooperation around a common goal of climate action is our best shot at avoiding the worst impacts of a warming planet.<\/p>\n

There are many valid criticisms of the COP process \u2013\u00a0primarily the fact that far too little progress has been made towards avoiding catastrophic climate change. This is in part due to the growing presence of fossil fuel lobbyists at the COPs, with countries like Canada and the UK inviting polluters to attend as part of their official delegations. Last year, fossil fuel lobbyists received more badges for COP than all delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries combined<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the UNFCCC is the<\/em> largest and most significant platform for coordinating international action on climate. It\u2019s essential that groups like Greenpeace are there to hold governments and fossil fuel corporations to account, and to push for the most ambitious action to limit global temperature increases.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s bid to co-host COP31 in partnership with the Pacific<\/h2>\n
\"ICJAO
Banner reads \u201cOur Survival is Our Human Right\u201d.
\nAn alliance of activists and organisations, including Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), Greenpeace Australia Pacific, and Amnesty International, joined by New York climate activists and Indigenous representatives, hold a Climate Justice flotilla sailing past the UN HQ and the Statue of Liberty with banners calling on countries to vote yes to the Vanuatu-led bid for an International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on climate change at the UN General Assembly (UNGA).<\/figcaption>
\u00a9 Stephanie Keith \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The COP takes place in a different country each year, with hosting rights shared between different country groupings and decided by consensus. Australia has put forward a bid to co-host COP31 in partnership with the Pacific, but we won\u2019t find out if this bid is successful until at least June of this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although Australia and the Pacific are leading contenders for co-hosting, there are two factors making the final decision uncertain:\u00a0<\/p>\n