US President Barack Obama will make his way to Copenhagen next week to address the most significant climate change summit in more than a decade.
While hopes for reaching a global treaty with binding targets have already been dashed, 65 world leaders are expected to agree on a 2010 deadline for a successor to the expiring Kyoto Protocol, which was ratified without the support of the US or China.
Obama arrives in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference on December 9th, before moving on to Oslo where he will collect the Nobel Peace Prize the next day.
Some environmental groups have criticized the timing of Obama's Copenhagen pit stop, which comes at the start of the conference and not during the high level talks of the 16th and 17th of December.
Reports have surfaced suggesting that a number of Obama's counterparts from major nations will adjust their visits to coincide with that of the American president.
For climate change advocates, the active participation of the US delegation is a major turning point in the fight to reduce emissions thought to contribute to global warming.
Last month, Obama pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by around 17 percent of 2005 levels by 2020, and has recently engaged emerging giants India, China and Brazil on the issue.
The Obama White House said its proposal to cut emissions "demonstrates a significant contribution to a problem that the US has neglected for too long."
Predecessor George W. Bush refused to support the Kyoto Protocol, initially questioning the science behind climate change and later suggesting that millions of US jobs would be lost in compliance with the accord.
"We understand the gravity of the climate threat. We are determined to act. And we will meet our responsibility to future generations," Obama told the UN in September.
However, with cap and trade legislation stuck in the Senate and mid-term elections looming, it is no sure thing that Obama will show up at the next scheduled climate change summit with a bill in hand.
For the top UN climate official, it is not enough to put off meaningful action until the next UN climate change meeting in June.
"Rich countries must put at least ten billion dollars a year on the table to kick-start immediate action up to 2012...the more than 100 least developed countries are entirely dependent on finance to adapt and reduce their emissions," said Yvo De Boer.
"There is no plan B for Copenhagen, only plan A and plan A stands for action," he told reporters.
December will be a pivotal month for the Obama, who speaks tonight at West Point to lay out his strategy in Afghanistan. Before turning his attention to climate change, the president will host a summit on job creation in Washington, DC on Thursday.
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