We begin today with another Midday on the Environment. The United Nations international climate conference known as COP30 was held earlier this month (Nov. 10-21). Politicians, diplomats, business leaders and climate activists from more than 190 countries met in Belem, Brazil, at the gateway to the Amazon rain forest, and at the end of another year of record heat and extreme weather that scientists say is being made worse by human-induced climate change.

For the first time in the 30- year history of the annual meeting, the United States did not send a delegation. A few days before the meeting concluded, President Donald Trump announced that he plans to open up new US coastal areas for oil and gas drilling.

There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is the leading contributor to climate change and the extreme weather that it triggers.  

The COP30 meeting ended with no new commitments to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and only modest progress on international efforts to curb global warming and to pay for the costs of adapting to a hotter planet. But there were hopeful signs of a broadening climate activism, as our next guest reported from the summit.

David Gelles covers climate for the New York Times. He leads the Times's Climate Forward newsletter and events series.  He’s also the author of a new book, Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away, the story of the founder and former CEO of the eco-friendly sportswear giant Patagonia.