Australia Quits Hosting COP31, Turkey Gets Climate Hot Potato

KEY POINTS

•Australia initially pushed to host the UN COP31 climate summit in Adelaide next year but dropped the effort.
•Pat Conroy, defence industry minister, said any one country can veto the hosting bid under UN consensus rules.
•Australia continues negotiating to highlight Pacific climate issues while expressing no intent to veto Turkey if chosen to host.
•Turkey is now set to host COP31 after Australia’s withdrawal, though final confirmation is still pending.

In a plot twist hotter than global warming itself, Australia waved goodbye to hosting COP31 in Adelaide, handing the climate mic to Turkey like an unwanted fruitcake. Pat Conroy, Australia’s defence industry minister, confessed Australia's bid is stuck in UN consensus limbo where a single country’s veto is like that one cousin who always ruins family photos. Despite the flop, Conroy keeps playing diplomatic hardball, insisting the real prize is spotlighting Pacific climate cries while promising not to veto Turkey’s bid—because who wants to be climate villain #1? It’s basically a political tag team where nobody wants to touch the hosting hot potato.