Bula COP31!

Heidi Dumesich and Jack Whelan

Bula COP31 is a podcast for anyone wanting to understand what it means for Australia and the Türkiye to co-host COP31 in 2026, and why this moment is influential in the UNFCCC process. Australia will be putting the Pacific Islands at the forefront of the climate negotiations to ensure adaptation and infrastructure investments flow to the region. Your hosts are Heidi Dumesich and Jack Whelan. Jack is a proud boomer who started his sustainability career long before it was considered ‘cool’. His experience spans the earliest COPs and reaches across business, industry, government, development agencies, NGOs, and the UN. He’s worked with the International Chamber of Commerce and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development; and across Asia-Pacific with the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility, Asian Development Bank, and World Bank. Jack was nominated by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the design team that established the IRIS initiative, supporting climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure in Small Island Developing States — work that sits at the heart of Pacific climate priorities. Heidi Dumesich is a millennial environmental scientist focused on implementing practical solutions. She’s the seasoned podcaster behind Life on Planet A, and currently a Sustainability Manager at Ventia, leading an Infrastructure Sustainability Council rating for a major road project. Heidi brings a fresh, grounded perspective on climate action and how sustainability plays out across communities and sectors. Bula COP31 explores what really happens behind the scenes of a COP — with a special focus on how Pacific leadership, values, and voices shape the global climate agenda. Through candid conversations with stakeholders across Pacific governments, Australian agencies, industry, civil society, youth, and community groups, we unpack how climate diplomacy in our region is driven by relationships, resilience, and shared responsibility. Whether you're a policymaker, business leader, activist, Pacific climate champion, or simply COP-curious, this podcast is your guide to getting the most out of COP31 — and understanding how it can deliver for the Blue Pacific Continent. Tune in, get engaged, and say Bula COP31!

  1. 1 day ago

    Episode 'D' for Daintree - How universities shape the COP with Rose Armour

    Behind every COP negotiation sits a mountain of research, and the universities and scientists who produce it. In this episode, Jack is joined by Rose Armour, Secretariat Director of the International Universities Climate Alliance (IUCA), just days before she heads to Antalya for COP31. Rose explains how IUCA works: a network of about 40 universities, founded in 2020 by UNSW, with a strong Oceania focus. She also explains how universities get accredited through the RINGO constituency (research and independent NGOs), and why RINGO’s morning briefings are a lifeline in the complexity of a COP. We also cover: How researchers can feed into the IPCC and UNFCCC beyond the COP itself, as authors, reviewers and contributorsIUCA’s roughly ten side events at COP31, including sessions on Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE), green skills, climate education, energy transition, and keeping 1.5°C alive and its impact on the PacificA 24-hour global Wikipedia editathon on 11 November to tackle climate mis- and disinformation, run with Wikimedia and the University of Exeter. No experience neededA practical look at the blue zone, the green zone and the logistics of getting badgedIf you can’t make it to Antalya, there are plenty of ways to follow along and take part from home. Links to events and the editathon sign-up are in the show notes. Links:  universitiesforclimate.orghttps://seors.unfccc.int/reports/events_list.html?session_id=COP3Wikipedia: 24-Hour Editathon for COP31Bula COP31 is a fortnightly podcast following the COP31 climate negotiations through a Pacific lens. Follow us on our socials for more content: Instagram  & LinkedIn Follow us on our socials for more content: Instagram  & LinkedIn

  2. 3 days ago

    Episode 'C' for Child and Youth - Burnt-Out People Can’t Save a Burning Planet with Ecomind

    COP31 kicks off in Antalya on 9 November, and two first-time attendees are bringing something new with them: the first-ever Wellbeing Corner at the Child and Youth Pavilion. Heidi sits down with Georgia Monahan, co-founder of EcoMind, the mental health charity helping young people turn their emotions into climate action. Sophia Scarparis, better known as Plastic Free Sophia, joins her. Together they unpack why the way we respond to the climate crisis can become part of the crisis, and what it looks like to do this work sustainably. In this episode: The origin story of EcoMind, from the Black Summer bushfires to burnout in the climate movementWhy “burnt-out people can’t save a burning planet, but cared-for people can”What came out of the COP31 Survival Kit sessions for youth delegatesWhat Pacific and First Nations ways of knowing, like talanoa and yarning circles, can teach the wider climate worldInside the Wellbeing Corner and its three pillars: care, connect, createThe Love Letter to the Natural World activity, plus climate cafés, peer support and Mental Health First Aid trainingAdvice for first-time delegates, and for anyone who can’t be there but wants to bring more care into their climate workFind the Wellbeing Corner: Child and Youth Pavilion, Blue Zone, COP31. Follow EcoMind on Instagram for updates from the ground. Links for more infomation: ECOMIND website: https://www.ecomind.au/ECOMIND instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecomind_aus/Plastic Free Sophia website: https://www.plasticfreesophia.com/Plastic Free Sophia instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plasticfreesophia/Child & Youth Pavilion: https://www.childrenandyouthpavilion.info/Bula COP31 is your fortnightly guide to the COP31 negotiations through a Pacific lens. Follow us on our socials for more content: Instagram  & LinkedIn

  3. 5 days ago

    Episode 'B' for Bowen: Part 2 with COP31 President of Negotiations Chris Bowen

    With COP31 just days away, we’re back for the second half of our conversation with Minister Chris Bowen, President of Negotiations, as he prepares for a sleepless fortnight at the Antalya Expo Centre. In this episode, we dig into how the COP process can move beyond the gridlock and lack of consensus that has plagued recent conferences, and what Türkiye’s push for a more action-oriented COP31 could mean. We ask whether regional approaches like the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) point the way forward, and whether trade and finance ministers should be at the table. Minister Bowen discusses the growing climate finance conversations among finance ministers and what’s happening with a possible carbon border adjustment in Australia, including Frank Jotzo’s carbon leakage review recommendation for a narrow mechanism covering cement and clinker, and how it fits into the Safeguard Mechanism review. Heidi also brings a youth question to the Minister, drawing on our conversations with youth delegates calling for a fossil fuel phase-out, climate justice and ocean action. Minister Bowen highlights the roles of Kal Glanznig, Ocean Champion and Youth Champion, Sally Higgins, and offers a candid explanation of who is actually in the room when ministers negotiate. We also cover what to watch for during COP31: Agendas are now published for the Pacific and Australian pavilions, so you can plan your COPFollow along via summaries and live webcasts (links in the show notes)Minister Bowen’s newly announced pairings of co-facilitating ministers for key agenda items, including adaptation (UK and Sierra Leone) and oceans (Palau and Canada)Show notes and links Follow COP31 (9 to 20 November 2026, Antalya) Official COP31 website: https://cop31.trAustralian Government COP31 website: https://unfccc-cop.dcceew.gov.auAustralian COP31 LinkedIn page: [add link]Pavilion agendas Australian Pavilion agenda: https://www.cop31-pacific.com/australian-pavilion#pbOC9BDuSnOJ_pbOC9BDuSnOJMoana Blue Pacific Pavilion (Pacific) agenda: [add link] (the pavilion is managed by SPREP, https://www.sprep.org)Live coverage and daily summaries Events at the COP31 Australian Pavilion will be live streamed on the DCCEEW YouTube channel.Subscribe for daily reports from the Earth Negotiations bulletin: https://enb.iisd.org/antalya-un-climate-change-conference-cop31Co-facilitating ministers Minister Bowen has announced pairings of ministers to co-facilitate negotiations on key agenda items, including adaptation (UK and Sierra Leone) and oceans (Palau and Canada). Full list of co-facilitators: https://theclimatewatch.com/cop31-names-10-co-facilitators-to-steer-key-climate-talks-in-antalya/Episode links Part 1 of our interview with Minister Bowen: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/episode-a-for-antalya-navigating-cop31-with/id1820670397?i=1000799333357Follow us on our socials for more content: Instagram  & LinkedIn

  4. 2 Nov

    Episode 'A' for Antalya - Navigating COP31 with Minister Chris Bowen, COP31 President of Negotiations

    With COP31 heading to Antalya, Jack and Heidi sit down with Chris Bowen, Australia’s COP31 President of Negotiations and Minister for Climate Change and Energy, to talk about what this unusual co-hosted COP could mean for global climate action. In this episode: A new model for collaboration: Bowen reflects on the compromise that led to Australia and Türkiye to build COP31 together and why he sees it as “potentially a good model going forward.”Elevating Pacific voices: After the recent Pacific pre-COP meeting, Bowen discusses the existential threat facing small island states and the gap in climate finance. Only 0.2% of available climate finance goes to small island developing states for adaptation.A COP of implementation: Bowen argues COP31 needs to focus on implementation and acceleration, and shares a recent Australian initiative to electrify industry that he believes other nations could learn from.Energy and climate in one portfolio: Bowen explains why holding both roles gives him a practical view on driving emissions reduction in the energy sector, even during a global energy crisis.Ambition meets diplomacy: The conversation explores the balance between ambitious climate goals and the realities of international negotiations, and why COP31 is a pivotal moment for turning commitments into action.Follow COP31 (9-20 November 2026, Antalya, Türkiye) The Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion and the Australian Pavilion are the main hubs for Pacific climate leadership, partnership and negotiations at COP31. The Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion is managed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in partnership with the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. COP31 Australian Pavilion: https://www.cop31-pacific.com/australian-pavilionLivestream: events at the Australian Pavilion will be streamed on the DCCEEW YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@DCCEEW)Photos: official images from the Australian Pavilion are on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/people/201791893@N02/)Bula COP31 follows the COP31 negotiations through a Pacific lens. New episodes every fortnight. Follow us on our socials for more content: Instagram  & LinkedIn

  5. 27 Oct

    Episode ‘Z’ for Gen Z: Youth bringing hope to COP31 with Abdul Mufeez Shaheed

    When young people write a climate statement, every comma counts. Fresh from the Pre-COP in Fiji, Heidi sits down with Abdul Mufeez Shaheed, Engagement and Outreach Lead at Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), Co-Chair of the Australia-Pacific Youth Climate Dialogue (APYCD) and lead drafter of the RCOY Oceania statement. Abdul takes us inside the three-day APYCD, where young people aged 14 to 29 from the Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Türkiye and Ethiopia worked to turn years of regional youth calls into one clear ask for decision-makers. We cover: How a dozen themes, from 1.5°C and climate finance to ocean health, climate mobility and nuclear justice, came together in a single statementWhy the dialogue produced a four-part outcomes package, including negotiator briefs with suggested intervention languageWhy 1.5°C is a limit and not a targetMangrove planting as innovation, where tradition and intergenerational knowledge meet nature-based solutionsThe "tree of hope" at Pre-COP, and the leaf that read "I hope COP31 is the last"Why Pacific negotiators go to COP not for a policy document, but for their lives and livelihoodsListen for a reminder of who is in the room, who is waiting outside, and what's at stake when the world gathers in Antalya. Link to the statement here: https://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/media/6826/file/APYCD_FinalOutcomeStatement.pdf.pdf Follow us on our socials for more content: Instagram  & LinkedIn

  6. 19 Oct

    Episode 'Y' for Yap: Zero Waste and the Circular Economy with Dr Atiq Zaman

    Y is for Yap, one of the four island states of the Federated States of Micronesia. It’s a scattering of more than 600 islands across nearly three million square kilometres of western Pacific, ringed by reefs, corals and mangroves. Jack is solo in the hot seat this week and joined by Dr Atiq Zaman, Associate Professor at Curtin University, to ask why waste belongs on the COP31 agenda. Atiq is ranked in the top 2% of scientists globally by Stanford and Elsevier, and ScholarGPS ranks him number one in the world for zero waste research. He is also a 2025 WA Young Tall Poppy Science Award recipient and the creator of the Zero Waste Index. In this episode: How a childhood in Bangladesh, where nothing was wasted, led to a career in zero waste via Sweden, the UN in New York and AustraliaWhy waste is only 3–4% of emissions at end of life, yet a full life-cycle view of materials, land and food puts circular economy in the picture for around 45% of emissionsWhy recycling shouldn’t be our first move, and what a single mobile phone tells us about critical mineralsWhat the Pacific can do about packaging imports, organic waste, composting and plastic alternatives like jute and seagrass biopolymersWhat Atiq hopes COP31 in Antalya delivers: recognition of circular economy as climate action, and a global agreement with national targetsPlus a callback to our Episode W conversation with Jason Graham-Nye on compostable nappies in Tuvalu, a circular economy in practice. Follow us on our socials for more content: Instagram  & LinkedIn

  7. 8 Oct

    Episode 'X' for Generation X - The COP University Alliance with Professor Peta Ashworth

    Our alphabet series hits X, and we're calling it Generation X. Recorded late at night in Nadi, Fiji, this episode brings you straight into the Pre-COP31 conversation with Professor Peta Ashworth OAM, Director of the Curtin Institute for Energy Transition at Curtin University. Peta is a leading expert in energy, communication and stakeholder engagement. She has spent almost two decades researching how communities respond to wind, solar, storage, hydrogen and carbon capture. She is attending the Pre-COP as part of the COP Universities Alliance for Australia, and heads to COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye next month. In this episode we cover: Why the Pre-COP is about moving from ambition to action, and why 1.5 is a lifeline, not a sloganWhat a just, community-led energy transition looks like for the PacificMoving from diesel to solar and batteries, and the role of blended financeOff-grid options and mini-grids for communities beyond the gridHow Australian universities can support Pacific project planning and capacity buildingAustralia's mixed position on fossil fuels and renewablesHow the Pre-COP connects to a COP31 focused on implementationLinks: COP Universities Alliance: https://www.unimelb.edu.au/climate/collaboration/cop-universities-allianceCurtin Institute for Energy Transition: https://research.curtin.edu.au/ciet/about-us/our-leaders/Bula COP31 follows COP31 through a Pacific lens. Hosted by Heidi Dumesich and Jack Whelan. Follow us on our socials for more content: Instagram  & LinkedIn

  8. 5 Oct

    Episode ‘W’ for Wallis & Futuna: Start of Pre-COP in Tuvalu with Jason Graham-Nye

    It's the first day of Pre-COP31 in the Pacific, and we're going straight to the ground in Tuvalu. Jack and Heidi kick off the week, then hand over to our Pre-COP correspondent, Jason Graham-Nye. He's lagoon-side in Funafuti as Hercules aircraft land with delegations, journalists and supplies. We're up to the letter W in our series. Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands, is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific. It sits between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the east and Tokelau to the northeast. Mata Utu is its capital and largest city. It felt fitting to name this episode after a small island group in the middle of the Pacific, in a week when Pre-COP31 is taking place in Fiji and Tuvalu. Jason explains why life on a low-lying atoll feels so vulnerable. The highest point is a landfill, and the ocean is never far away. Then he walks us through the Greater Good Diaper Project, which he runs with his partner, Kim Graham-Nye. It replaces plastic disposable nappies with 100% compostable ones, delivered and collected by local women, and turned into compost in about eight weeks. In this episode: Discuss how nappies are the biggest source of plastic waste in TuvaluA financing model built on third-party verified plastic-avoidance certificates and a proposed circular transition bondA live tour of Jason's Tuvalu office and compost boxesWhy this is a practical example of the circular economy and zero waste agenda heading to COP31Learn more about Jason's work: http://www.thegreatergood.global/ Read the Ellen MacArthur Foundation report he co-authored, A Circular Economy for Nappies and How to Implement It Locally: https://content.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/m/d4bac88b31ead81b/original/A-Circular-Economy-for-Nappies.pdf Bula COP31 is your fortnightly guide to the COP31 negotiations through a Pacific lens. Stay tuned for more Pre-COP episodes from Fiji and Tuvalu this week. Follow us on our socials for more content: Instagram  & LinkedIn

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About

Bula COP31 is a podcast for anyone wanting to understand what it means for Australia and the Türkiye to co-host COP31 in 2026, and why this moment is influential in the UNFCCC process. Australia will be putting the Pacific Islands at the forefront of the climate negotiations to ensure adaptation and infrastructure investments flow to the region. Your hosts are Heidi Dumesich and Jack Whelan. Jack is a proud boomer who started his sustainability career long before it was considered ‘cool’. His experience spans the earliest COPs and reaches across business, industry, government, development agencies, NGOs, and the UN. He’s worked with the International Chamber of Commerce and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development; and across Asia-Pacific with the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility, Asian Development Bank, and World Bank. Jack was nominated by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the design team that established the IRIS initiative, supporting climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure in Small Island Developing States — work that sits at the heart of Pacific climate priorities. Heidi Dumesich is a millennial environmental scientist focused on implementing practical solutions. She’s the seasoned podcaster behind Life on Planet A, and currently a Sustainability Manager at Ventia, leading an Infrastructure Sustainability Council rating for a major road project. Heidi brings a fresh, grounded perspective on climate action and how sustainability plays out across communities and sectors. Bula COP31 explores what really happens behind the scenes of a COP — with a special focus on how Pacific leadership, values, and voices shape the global climate agenda. Through candid conversations with stakeholders across Pacific governments, Australian agencies, industry, civil society, youth, and community groups, we unpack how climate diplomacy in our region is driven by relationships, resilience, and shared responsibility. Whether you're a policymaker, business leader, activist, Pacific climate champion, or simply COP-curious, this podcast is your guide to getting the most out of COP31 — and understanding how it can deliver for the Blue Pacific Continent. Tune in, get engaged, and say Bula COP31!

Information

  • Creator
    Heidi Dumesich and Jack Whelan
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    31
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Bula COP31!
  • Show Website
    Bula COP31!

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