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Ethiopia has been chosen as the host country for the COP32 climate summit by the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) at COP30, favouring the country’s bid over that of Nigeria to host the conference as it returns to Africa in 2027.

Thanking the AGN for its support, an Ethiopian government official speaking during plenary, said the country looks forward to welcoming delegates to Addis Ababa.

“We are deeply grateful for the trust and confidence bestowed on the Ethiopian people and government. We would like to reiterate our commitment to hosting the African COP in 2027,” he said.

The country had officially announced its interest to host the ‘Africa COP’ two months back at the second Africa Climate Summit – six months after Nigeria first threw its hat into the ring.

Nigerian campaigners at the summit in Addis had told Climate Home News that Ethiopia was better prepared in terms of capacity and infrastructure to host COP32 than Nigeria, and had further positioned itself with the hosting of the Africa Climate Summit.

A sign outside the second Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 2025. (Photo: Vivian Chime)

Calling on other groups of countries to back the selection – which is usually a formality as regional groups take it in turn to select the COP host from their members – the Ethiopian official said the country is already making initial technical and logistical preparations to ensure a smooth process that leaves no one behind and ensure “every voice will be fully represented through an inclusive process”.

At COP32, Ethiopia will enable decisions that place “our world on a better track on climate action”, the official said, adding that the COP in Addis “will play a major role in guiding climate action in this critical decade”.

Rukiya Khamis, Africa senior organiser at campaign group 350.org, said COP32 presents an opportunity “to elevate Africa’s climate priorities, solutions and leadership”.

Meanwhile, a long-running standoff between Australia and Türkiye over the host nation for next year’s COP31 summit shows no sign of easing, with neither side willing to back down.

Both countries took to the plenary floor on Tuesday to reiterate their bids. Australia, which is hoping to preside over the talks in partnership with Pacific nations, said it can count on the backing of the so-called Umbrella group, which includes the UK, Japan and Norway.

Climate is MIA in Australia and Türkiye’s bids to host COP31

Türkiye’s delegate said the country’s ambition “is not limited to hosting COP31”, but to lead the summit as “an inclusive, innovative and equitable climate action platform”.

If the two sides are unable to reach an agreement, due by the end of the COP30, hosting responsibilities will default to the German city of Bonn, where the UN climate change body is headquartered.

The COP30 presidency team has designated an official to work on finding a solution to the stalemate.

350’s Khamis said the world cannot afford to treat climate diplomacy as a political bargaining chip, calling on all parties to resolve the stalemate to “avoid undermining momentum at a pivotal moment for climate action”.

No sign of India’s 2035 emissions target

Two days into COP30, the world’s most populous country and third-biggest emitter – India – has yet to announce its 2035 NDC emissions target. Of the G20 major economies, only India and Saudi Arabia have still not done so.

The delay has confounded the pre-summit expectations of the UN and Indian media. Citing government sources, the Indian Express and The Hindu separately reported back in September that it would be announced “during, or just ahead of” COP30.

The government of India – which was enraged by the ending of the last COP where it fiercely rejected the new climate finance goal – has so far had a low-profile at this one.

With local elections going on in Bihar, the country’s speech at the leaders’ summit was delivered not by the prime minister or even a minister but by the country’s ambassador to Brazil.

He announced nothing new of substance – other than joining the Tropical Forest Forever Facility as an observer – but criticised developed countries for depleting the carbon budget while developing countries lead the way in taking “decisive climate action”.

Mexico and South Korea land new goals

In contrast, Mexico’s environment minister announced in Belém that the country will aim to cut emissions by up to 50% by 2035 compared to a business-as-usual scenario.

For the first time, the oil-producing nation has set a limit on absolute emissions of 365 million-404 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2035. It also targets – conditional on international support – a lower level of 332-363 million tonnes by the same year.

According to a recent UN report, the country’s current policies will keep emissions rising and Mexico’s 2030 target allows them to do so until at least 2030 before they start coming down to reach net zero by 2050.

The head of World Resources International Mexico Francisco Barnés Regueiro said the 2035 target amounted to “deep emissions cuts” and described it as “among the most ambitious new climate targets from a major emitter”.

On the COP30 Sunday off, a sightseer at Presépio Fort in Old Belem looks across the river to the rainforest on (Alex Ferro/COP30)

In South Korea, the government on Tuesday announced a target to reduce emissions 53-61% from 2018 levels by 2035. The country’s emissions peaked around 2018 and have started heading slowly downward. It had earlier promised a 40% cut by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050.

The new 2035 target is more ambitious than two scenarios proposed just a few days ago by the environment ministry. However, sectoral targets for industry are less ambitious than the total, which is seen as a response to pressure from energy-intensive industries.

Climate minister Kim Sung-whan told a press briefing that higher ambition for manufacturing was not possible “as too few investments have been made in the past to suddenly decarbonise manufacturing industries by a significant amount”.

Gahee Han, from Korean NGO Solutions For Our Climate, said the government would aim for the lower end of the range – 53% – which “falls far short of what is needed”. She called for the government to target at least the upper level of 61%.

How long can the COP agenda ceasefire last?

As we reported yesterday, Brazil’s COP30 presidency deftly managed to avoid a row erupting over countries wanting to add more items to the agenda in Belem.

It did that by setting up a series of consultation meetings – essentially negotiations about negotiations – which started yesterday afternoon and are due to finish on Wednesday before a “stocktaking plenary”. That, we’ve heard, is where the fireworks could start going off.

The proposed agenda items include the provision of climate finance by rich countries, trade measures such as carbon taxes on imports, and how to close the emissions gap for 1.5C.

One observer in the room on Monday – Gustavo Pinheiro with the think-tank E3G – told journalists the mood had been positive, with Brazil trying to build an environment of cooperation. But how long will that last?

Today, countries have been asked to bring solutions to the agenda discussions, and pressure is growing on the presidency to start crafting the package it wants to see presented at the end of COP30, Pinheiro said.

“We had a ceasefire on Monday – whether we get something that turns into a peace plan by the end of next week [when the talks close] remains to be seen,” quipped his E3G colleague and veteran COP watcher Alden Meyer.

Discussions on how to keep the world on track for 1.5C should be a central topic at COP30, said Rachel Cleetus, a policy director with the Union of Concerned Scientists, after a major UN report showed that temporarily breaching the temperature goal is now inevitable.

“We are on the brink of overshooting 1.5C. The science on that is unfortunately very clear. But our choices really matter. We’re at a moment where the time and magnitude of that overshoot is still within our control,” she told Climate Home News at COP30.

“This is an existential notion for small island nations,” she added. “The richer, major-emitting countries, who are the primary cause of why we are here, must live up to their responsibilities.”

People wade through a flooded street caused by continuous rain brought by Typhoon Yagi, in San Miguel, Calumet, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines, on September 3, 2024. ( Photo: IMAGO/Matrix Images / Noel Celis / via Reuters Connect)

Loss and Damage Fund debuts calls for proposals as needs soar

The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage – agreed on three years ago at COP27 in Egypt and established at COP28 – has become operational at COP30 in Belem and is set to begin receiving requests for support by mid-December.

Announcing the call on Monday, the Fund’s board said an initial $250 million would be available for projects seeking to address a wide range of climate-related losses – from damaged infrastructure to the loss of cultural heritage, or community displacement.

Applauding the call for proposals as “a practical step towards justice, long awaited by communities on the frontline”, Evans Njewa, chair of the Least Developed Countries group, said the fund “must now deliver fast, simple and accessible support”.

But meeting the huge scale of needs could be difficult, activists say. This is because by 2030, developing countries could require $200 billion-$400 billion a year to address loss and damage caused by storms, droughts, flooding, extreme heat and rising seas made worse by climate change. Currently, the loss and damage fund has a paltry $788 million pledged with less than $400 million of that total transferred so far.

Full story: Climate-hit nations hail loss and damage fund’s debut call for proposals

The FRLD “is starting with a fraction of the scale required”, said long-time climate activist Harjeet Singh. “The countries and communities facing the worst consequences – those who had no role in causing this crisis – deserve more than an empty shell. This is not climate justice,” he added.

Up to $60 billion a year could be unlocked if the economies most responsible for climate change contributed just 0.08% of GDP to the loss and damage fund – a 75-fold increase over current pledges, according to a new study by the India-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

“Every dollar invested in resilience yields multiple dividends – in stability, productivity, and dignity,” said Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of the CEEW and Special Envoy to CO30 representing South Asia. “The 0.08 percent floor must become the foundation of global economic security and a step toward meaningful cooperation.”

Climate change harms – and creates – refugees

Of the 117 million people displaced by conflict, around three-quarters face high-to-extreme exposure to climate-related hazards, according to a new report by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR.

These statistics include individuals like 41-year-old Hilmi Basal, who spoke to Climate Home News last year from a refugee camp tent in the Gaza Strip. His three-year old son survived Israel’s bombs but died in a heatwave.

Heatwaves, floods and droughts are also creating new refugees: 250 million internal displacements were caused by weather-related disasters in the past decade.

And when people move, they often do so to places where climate change has already affected the territory. Three-quarters of the land in Africa is deteriorating, which means that over half the refugee settlements on the continent are in high-stress areas.

Like the Zimbabweans Climate Home News met last November, who have been moved 60 kilometres from a cyclone-hit region to a drought-prone one. From frying pan to fire.

Tambudzai Chikweya walks past some of the land she was allocated by Zimbabwe’s government in a drought-prone area after Cyclone Idai destroyed her home (Photo: Matteo Civillini)

Andrew Harper, a UNHCR climate adviser, said that refugees often “move to places where no one else wants to be. And so, not surprisingly, these places which are desolate, they could be in the desert, they could be in river deltas, they’re often the first ones to be hit by extreme weather events.”

Harper told Climate Home News that those refugees might also face discrimination when accessing climate funds. So, even when the amount to help refugees is in the billions, he said the agency would rather not say that a determinate amount of money is going to refugees, but to refugees and countries that receive them.

The post COP30 Bulletin Day 2: Ethiopia picked as COP32 host, while COP31 standoff continues appeared first on Climate Home News.

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COP30 Bulletin Day 2: Ethiopia picked as COP32 host, while COP31 standoff continues