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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!
Latest Episodes
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 ...
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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...
Episode 'V' for Vanuatu: "We're Not Going to Give Up on 1.5" — Dr. Tess Newton-Cain on the PIF
Tess Newton-Cain joins Heidi and Jack on the podcast to discuss the outcomes of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and the pressing climate challenges facing the region. The podcast unpacks the discussions held at this pivotal event, and the shift...
Episode 'U' for Upolu: Decarbonising Global Shipping with Jenny Ruffell Smith
Shipping produces around 3% of global emissions, yet almost everything we buy has travelled by sea at some point. In Episode U, Heidi and Jack are joined by Jenny Ruffell Smith, Senior Project Manager at the
Episode 'T' for Tonga: Plastics, Policy and the Pacific with WWF John Duncan
This episode, we're joined by John Duncan, Global Initiative Lead for WWF's No Plastics in Nature program, to unpack the Global Plastics Treaty — often called the most significant environmental agreement since Paris. John breaks dow...