NorCal Solar is going to the UN climate talks
We are now an official observer at COP, the yearly United Nations climate conference. That means solar educators from Northern California get a seat in the room where the world decides how to fight climate change.
What is COP?
COP stands for Conference of the Parties. Every year, almost every country on Earth sends a team to a two-week meeting to work on climate change. The "parties" are the countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the treaty behind all of this.
Think of it as the world's biggest climate meeting. Presidents, ministers, scientists, businesses, cities and nonprofits all show up. This year is the 31st one, so it's called COP31.
The Paris Agreement
The most famous COP was COP21 in Paris in 2015. That's where countries signed the Paris Agreement. The big promise: keep global warming well below 2°C and try hard to stop it at 1.5°C, compared to the time before factories and cars.
Every COP since then is about one question: are countries actually doing what they promised in Paris?
Same amount of warming, two scales. Most of the world uses Celsius. Here in the USA we use Fahrenheit.
Why it's bigger in Fahrenheit: each 1 degree Celsius equals 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. So 1.5 × 1.8 = 2.7°F, and 2°C is 3.6°F. That is an average over the whole planet, all year, which is a huge change.
What does "observer" mean?
Countries do the voting at COP. But the UN also lets in approved observer organizations: nonprofits, universities, and other groups that bring real-world know-how. NorCal Solar is now one of them.
As an observer, we can:
- Send a team with official UN badges into the main conference area
- Sit in on negotiation sessions that are open to observers
- Go to side events, panels and the exhibit halls
- Meet with country teams, solar groups and climate leaders from around the world
- Bring back what we learn and share it with our members
Accepted after a 3.5-year application
Getting in is not easy. The UN checks every group closely. We sent in our bylaws, our nonprofit papers, our financial statements, proof of our climate work, and answered round after round of questions. It took about three and a half years.
- 2023 Applied. NorCal Solar started its application to the UNFCCC.
- 2023 to 2026 Reviews and paperwork. Documents, financials and follow-up questions from the UN team.
- 2026 Accepted. NorCal Solar became an official UN observer organization.
- Nov 2026 First COP as observers. Our team heads to COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.
Why it's good for solar, and for you
Solar gets a voice
Solar is the fastest-growing power source on the planet. The people who design, install and teach it should be in the room.
News straight to members
No waiting for headlines. We report back what we see and hear, in plain language, through talks, our newsletter and the podcast.
Training the workforce
Hitting climate goals takes millions of trained solar and battery workers. Education is what we do, and we bring that to the table.
Global connections
We meet solar groups and trainers from dozens of countries and build partnerships we could never build from home.
The USA still needs a voice at COP
The U.S. federal government left the Paris Agreement in January 2026 and has announced it is pulling out of the UN climate treaty too. That means Washington is not at the table pushing for climate action.
But Americans did not stop caring. States, cities, businesses, universities and nonprofits are still showing up. NorCal Solar is one of them. When the federal government steps back, groups like ours make sure the world still hears from the American people who are building the clean energy future every day.
NorCal Solar and ASES
NorCal Solar has been around since 1974. We're a chapter of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), the national solar group founded in 1954. Our observer status opens the door for ASES too. ASES leaders can join the NorCal Solar team at COP, so our national organization gets represented through us.
A local chapter carrying the national group into the UN climate talks. We think that's pretty cool.
Be a guest on the podcast at COP31 or RE+
Sean White, President of NorCal Solar, records in-person podcast interviews on site. See Sean's COP31 plan on solarSEAN.com. Got a story about solar, batteries, climate or clean energy jobs? Grab a 30-minute slot.
- COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, November 2026
- RE+ 2026 in Las Vegas, North America's biggest clean energy show, November 2026
To schedule, email:
Tell us which event, your name, your organization and what you'd like to talk about.