A general view of the skyline of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia November 3, 2021. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri
BELEM, Brazil (Reuters) -Ethiopia said on Tuesday it would host the United Nations' COP32 climate summit in 2027, fending off a rival bid from Nigeria to land an influential role that will allow it to shape the agenda and outcomes of the event.
The more immediate choice of host for next year's COP31 remains unresolved, however, with both Australia and Turkey vying for it.
COP host countries adopt a presidency role which allows them to set goals for the summit and showcase their own climate issues, as well as an important position in resolving any conflicts that arise during negotiations.
At a plenary session of this year's event in Brazil, Ethiopia confirmed it had been endorsed by fellow African nations to hold the 2027 conference in its capital Addis Ababa, as first reported by Reuters on Monday.
"We are deeply grateful for the trust and confidence bestowed on the Ethiopian people and government," Ethiopia's ambassador to Brazil, Leulseged Tadese Abebe, told a plenary session of the COP30 summit.
"COP32 will play a major role in guiding climate action in this critical decade."
COP summits rotate around the world's regions and the decision must be unanimous among all countries in the region.
The decision still needs to be officially adopted, but this is now considered a formality.
This year's conference is being held in the Amazonian city of Belem. Next year's hosting choice within the "Western Europe and Others" group has been hung up for months, with neither Turkey nor Australia backing down.
Australia made its COP31 bid in partnership with the Pacific Islands, which are among the world's most vulnerable places to climate change.
Correa do Lago urged countries in the Western European group on Monday to resolve their impasse as soon as possible. If it cannot be resolved, the conference would be held in Bonn, Germany, where the U.N. climate agency is based.
"We would have to, but we do not want to," German State Secretary in the Environment Ministry Jochen Flasbarth told reporters.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu, Valerie Volcovici, Simon Jessop and William James in Belem, Brazil; Editing by Katy Daigle, Thomas Derpinghaus and Conor Humphries)
