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Australia should use its leadership at COP31 to press for stronger accountability for climate damage, including a serious discussion of how fossil-fuel companies could contribute to costs linked to their emissions. But the description “co-host” needs qualification: Türkiye will physically host COP31 in Antalya from 9 to 20 November 2026, while Australia is President of Negotiations. Australia has diplomatic influence, not unilateral power to impose a global liability rule.
What does “polluters pay” mean?
“Polluters pay” is a broad policy principle, not the name of one settled Australian compensation system. It can refer to different instruments, from taxes and fees to legal liability. The Australian proposal most directly matching the idea was the Liability for Climate Change Damage (Make the Polluters Pay) Bill 2025. Parliament’s bill record describes a proposal for proportional liability for fossil-fuel companies and legal actions by certain people affected by climate change.
That distinction matters: a general call for companies to bear some climate-related costs does not itself create a right to compensation. The 2025 bill did not establish an operating claims process, and its proposed approach should not be treated as current law.
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Is the Make the Polluters Pay Bill law in Australia?
No. The bill lapsed at the end of the parliamentary session on 21 July 2025 and is not proceeding, according to the Parliament of Australia’s bill progress record. It is a proposal, not an enacted levy, compensation scheme or current entitlement to bring a claim under that bill.
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The proposal also leaves important design questions open. A future law would need to specify how to connect particular losses to emissions, allocate responsibility among companies, define which losses and claimants qualify, and determine how claims are assessed and funded. The lapsed bill’s existence does not settle those legal or practical questions.
Who is hosting COP31, and what role will Australia play?
Türkiye is the physical host of COP31 and the World Leaders Summit; Australia is to lead negotiations as President of Negotiations. The Australian Government says it will work with Türkiye and Pacific countries, select co-facilitators and work with Türkiye on action-agenda themes. That is a substantial diplomatic role, but it does not mean Australia controls the whole conference or can dictate its outcome.
The UNFCCC lists COP31 in Antalya for 9–20 November 2026. It also lists Fiji, Tuvalu and Australia as partners for official Pacific pre-COP and leaders’ events scheduled for 5–8 October 2026. Australia’s stated COP31 focus includes speeding the shift to clean energy, increasing finance and investment, growing the green economy and elevating Pacific priorities. Those priorities provide a relevant setting for discussion of who bears climate-related costs; they are not a commitment to adopt a polluter-liability scheme.
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Australia’s emissions targets set goals for reducing national emissions; they do not assign responsibility for particular climate damage or create a compensation process. The Australian Government’s current emissions-reduction page lists a legislated target of 43% below 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050. On 18 September 2025, the government announced a 2035 target range of 62–70% below 2005 levels, accepting the Climate Change Authority’s advice under the Climate Change Act 2022. These are targets, not reports of reductions already achieved.
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A liability rule would answer a different question: who should bear which costs, under what evidence and allocation rules? Progress toward an emissions target, even if achieved, would not by itself determine whether a company owes money for a particular loss.
How public climate grants differ from corporate liability
Australia also supports climate-related work through grants for adaptation, disaster preparedness, and projects responding to loss and damage, as described by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. That public-finance response is distinct from making a company legally responsible for damage attributable to its emissions.
| Question | Public climate grants | Direct polluter liability |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays? | Public budgets, as described in DFAT’s climate policy. | Companies, if a liability law assigns them responsibility. |
| What triggers support or payment? | Eligibility under a grant or program. The cited DFAT page does not establish one universal eligibility test. | Attributable emissions and whatever legal proof and allocation rules a law requires. No current Australian scheme is established by the lapsed bill. |
| Who may receive it? | Eligible participants or projects under relevant programs; the cited page does not specify one recipient class for all grants. | Claimants in whatever class a future law defines. The 2025 proposal referred to certain people affected by climate change. |
| What is the instrument for? | Supporting adaptation, preparedness and responses to loss and damage. | Assigning legal responsibility for damage under a liability framework. |
Grants do not, by themselves, prove that all climate damage is covered or settle whether companies should also contribute. Conversely, a corporate liability rule would not automatically replace public programs or guarantee payment for every loss.
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Australia should put accountability for climate harm on the negotiating agenda alongside clean-energy investment and climate finance. That is a policy recommendation, not a stated COP31 outcome. Its case is strongest if it treats public support and corporate responsibility as distinct tools, rather than suggesting that one automatically resolves the other.
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Any proposed liability framework should be explicit about how it would operate. At minimum, lawmakers and negotiators would need to confront:
- Attribution: what evidence would connect emissions by a company to a particular harm?
- Allocation: how would responsibility be divided when emissions, contributors and impacts span many actors and places?
- Eligible losses and claimants: which harms and affected people could qualify, and how would claims be assessed?
- Funding and procedure: who would administer and finance claims, and what route would be available to resolve disputes?
The cited official material does not answer those questions or establish the likely results of a future scheme. That is a reason to make the design debate concrete—not to describe an untested proposal as settled law. With Türkiye hosting and Australia leading negotiations, Australia can press for that debate and work with Pacific partners without claiming authority to decide the outcome alone.
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