By Mary O‘KEEFE

COP30 ended on Nov. 21 and there were some pretty lofty plans put forward for future climate action. 

COP stands for Climate Change Conference (also known as Conference Of the Parties) and is led by the United Nations (UN). This was the 30th COP meeting, a meeting that takes place every year.

“[It is] the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate change that brings together almost every country on Earth,” according to the UN. “To put it simply, the COP is where the world comes together to agree on the actions to address the climate crisis, such as limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, helping vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”

This year the world came together – but without the United States. The Trump Administration chose not to join over 80 nations to discuss what the future holds for the Earth and its changing climate; however, that does not mean there were no representatives present from the U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island attended as did Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

Whitehouse was there with the support of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition Institute; Newsom was there as the governor of California. 

Here’s the thing: Climate change is affecting the entire Earth not just certain parts. It is important for everyone to know what the options are, what new technology is in the works to help battle changes coming our way – and from a business view, make deals that will help with the new “clean up” industry that is emerging. 

In my mind’s eye, I imagine the COP30 meeting is full of people in sustainable clothing, drinking organic pesticides-free tea and discussing, in a calm and caring manner, the best way to save the planet. I see intellectuals and Mother Earth types all realizing they may not agree but always putting the planet first; like I said, that is what I imagine. But that’s not exactly what happened. 

There were a lot of reported outbursts and arguments, as one might imagine with such a diverse group of countries represented. According to reports, the summit ended with a deal that contained no direct reference to the fossil fuels … which is one element that is heating up the planet. 

The hope of the summit, which did include the United Kingdom and the European Union, was a commitment to stop using oil, coal and gas at a faster pace, according to the BBC article, “UN climate talks fail to secure new fossil fuel promises.” 

But change is hard and the oil-producing nations wanted to grow their business. 

“A representative for Colombia furiously criticized the COP presidency for not allowing countries to object to the deal in the final meeting on Saturday, known as a plenary.

“Colombia believes that we have sufficient scientific evidence saying that more than 75% of the global greenhouse gas emissions come from fossil fuels,” Daniela Durán González, Colombian Climate delegate, told BBC News. “So we do believe it’s time that the Convention on Climate Change starts talking about that reality,” she added, according to the article. 

Instead, in the end countries were asked to voluntarily move at a faster pace to reduce the use of fossil fuels. 

Yep, we all know what “voluntarily” means to big businesses that make billions/trillions of dollars from fossil fuels. Of course these countries/ businesses will choose to make less for their CEOs and stakeholders to help the Earth … right?

“In the final meeting, a representative for Saudi Arabia said: ‘Each state must be allowed to build its own path, based on its respective circumstances and economies,’” according to the BBC article.

“Like many other leading oil-producing nations, the country has argued it should be allowed to exploit its fossil fuel reserves as others have done in the past,” according to the BBC article.

And Brazil, the country that hosted COP30, has a plan to drill for oil at the mouth of the Amazon.

“The region is rich in marine biodiversity and home to a coral reef system that is critically important for local wildlife, as well as the livelihoods of local and Indigenous people who depend on the coastal Amazon for their wellbeing and survival,” according to Global Witness.

“Global Witness can now reveal that Brazil’s oil and gas production this century, including from blocks licensed in 2025, will exceed 33 billion barrels of oil and more than 780 billion cubic meters of fossil gas. When burned for energy, Global Witness calculates this oil and gas will add more than 15.6 billion tonnes of carbon pollution to the atmosphere by 2100.”

Ever been invited to someone’s house and when you get there you get this creepy feeling, and realize they really don’t want you there? Well, that how Brazil’s hosting of COP30 appears. 

In theory, this summit is to gather together those who are most concerned and knowledgeable about climate issues, but it seems like it has succumbed to the corporate line instead. 

California did go, though, and appeared to be the closest thing to that imaginary organic, sustainable, hopeful group. Although Gov. Newsom could not make any deals for the U.S., he did do some intense networking for the state. The state “forged strategic partnerships across three continents, announced breakthrough clean energy achievements and elevated Indigenous voices and subnational leadership on the world stage,” according to the governor’s press office. 

And the one cool thing that California did was turn the clock back to look at how lands were cared for historically. 

COP highlighted the leadership of Indigenous peoples as the guardians of biodiversity. California’s first Indigenous Tribal Affairs Secretary Christina Snider-Ashtari engaged in focused discussions with Sônia Guajajara, Brazil’s first Indigenous minister of Indigenous Peoples, and Francisca Arara, the State of Acre’s first Indigenous Secretary for Indigenous Peoples, to share approaches to advancing Indigenous climate solutions and set the stage for future international collaboration across Indigenous communities and cultures, according to Newsom’s office.

“California Native peoples have stewarded our lands and waters since time immemorial, and we will continue that work regardless of shifts in political winds,” said Secretary Snider-Ashtari. “California remains committed to Native-led climate action, clean energy and community resilience, and we look forward to advancing this work in collaboration with our Indigenous counterparts across the globe.”

Indigenous actually means “native to the land” and according to the UN there are over 476 million Indigenous people living in 90 countries across the world. 

The UN described Indigenous as people, “practicing unique traditions, they retain social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live. Spread across the world from the Arctic to the South Pacific, they are the descendants – according to a common definition – of those who inhabited a country or a geographical region at the time when people of different cultures or ethnic origins arrived. The new arrivals later became dominant through conquest, occupation, settlement or other means.”

So maybe this is the real positive that came out of COP30 – that those who were once stewards of the Earth they called home, with traditions that not only understood nature but protected it, are now being turned to to help guide us all out of the climate catastrophe we have helped create. 

We will be looking at some cold temps tonight with lows in the mid 40s and highs in the mid 60s. This will be followed by a slight warming trend with temps in the high 70s, possibly even low 80s by Wednesday. 

“This is due to the upper level Pacific Ridge that will park over us. It is very strong for this time of year,” according a NOAA meteorologist. 

The upper-level Pacific Ridge is an area of high-pressure that forms over the eastern Pacific and can extend toward the West Coast, according to NOAA.

There is no rain in sight for the next few days.