As COP31 opens in Antalya on 9 November, a citizen-led movement in Australia is bringing the climate talks home. Citizen COP Australia is running 96 free community events across every state and territory, turning global negotiations into local conversations that anyone can join.
The movement, enabled by the Australian charity People For Nature, runs through October and November alongside the two United Nations COP conferences — COP17 on biodiversity and COP31 on climate. More than 75 organisations are involved, and the full programme is listed on the movement’s public agenda. For readers following the talks, our climate coverage will carry COP31 developments from Antalya as they unfold.
A movement timed with COP31
Citizen COP Australia was launched in Brisbane on 28 September 2026, deliberately timed to run alongside the COP season. COP17, the biodiversity conference, ran from 19 to 30 October, and COP31, the climate conference, takes place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November.
“At a time when Australians are already experiencing the impacts of climate and biodiversity loss, we cannot afford for decisions to remain disconnected from reality on the ground,” said Audrey Barucchi, chief executive and co-founder of People For Nature. “Citizen COP is about creating structured, inclusive spaces where citizens can engage with evidence, discuss trade-offs, and help shape what comes next.”
The idea is simple: the official COP has a Green Zone, the public space where anyone can take part. Citizen COP expands that idea across an entire country, so people who will never travel to Antalya can still take part in the conversation.
What is happening across Australia
Events include community forums, workshops, citizen science activities and local action projects. The flagship activity, “Give Nature a Seat at the Table”, invites Australians to leave an empty seat for nature at home, at work, at school or in a café — a small daily reminder that nature deserves a voice in every decision. It runs from 19 October to 20 November.
As the COP31 phase begins, the programme gathers pace. A community event on the Sunshine Coast brings the biodiversity COP to the local biosphere on 6 and 7 November, while Giant Climate Fresk workshops take place in Sydney and Brisbane on 9 November, the day COP31 opens. Daily prayers and meditations for COP31 run from 9 to 20 November, a documentary screening takes place in Canberra on 11 November, and a live session from COP31 itself, with youth ocean leader Kal Glanznig of Blue Minds, is scheduled for 16 and 17 November. In Perth, “One Climate, Many Stories” brings diverse voices together at the Canning River Eco Education Centre on 18 November.
The principles behind it
Citizen COP is built on a set of principles its organisers describe as structural, not symbolic. Organisers do not fly within Australia, no speakers are paid, participation is free, catering at in-person gatherings is vegetarian, events produce minimal waste, funding is participatory, and no fossil fuel company — or organisation linked to ongoing climate and nature harm — has any influence over the movement.
“These principles are not symbolic, they are structural,” Barucchi said. “If we are asking society to change, the way we organise ourselves must reflect that change.”
Key facts
- What: Citizen COP Australia 2026, a citizen-led, non-partisan movement running alongside the United Nations COP conferences.
- Scale: More than 75 organisations and 96 events across every Australian state and territory.
- When: October to November 2026 — alongside COP17 (19–30 October) and COP31 (9–20 November).
- Organiser: Enabled by People For Nature, an Australian charity working on climate and biodiversity education, citizen conservation and citizen science.
- Cost: Participation is free, and events are open to everyone.
Why it matters
Citizen COP builds on last year’s Australian chapter of AlterCOP, which reached more than 1,400 participants across 42 events in 8 locations, involving 49 organisations. This year the movement is bigger and timed to both COPs, not just one.
Its significance lies in who gets a voice. Climate negotiations are often reported as something that happens far away, between governments. Citizen COP treats the public as participants, not spectators — people who live with drought, flood, fire and reef loss, and whose experience belongs in the decisions made about the climate and nature.
As COP31 opens in Antalya, the Australian experiment will be watched by climate organisers elsewhere: if citizens can be brought into the heart of the talks from thousands of kilometres away, the model could travel.
