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Bula COP31!
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!
Bula COP31!
Episode 'R' for Rarotonga: COP31 Türkiye Brief Part 2
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Heidi continues her conversation with Selen İnal, founder of the COP31 Türkiye Brief, picking up where they left off at the Zero Waste Forum.
This episode dives into the climate issue hiding in plain sight — waste. Selen breaks down why methane from poorly managed organic waste is one of the most dangerous and underrated climate threats, and unpacks the circular economy challenge: which plastics can actually be recycled, why the EU's new digital product passport could change everything, and a confronting question raised at the Forum — why are developed nations still exporting their waste to developing countries?
The conversation also turns to representation, with reflections on meeting Australia's COP31 Youth Climate Champion Sally Higgins, and why having a young woman from an agricultural background in that role matters far beyond symbolism. Heidi and Selen also touch on the Subsidiary Bodies meetings currently underway in Bonn — the dense, high-level negotiations that shape what actually gets discussed at COP.
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