The Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change is scheduled to take place next month, December 7 - 15.  While the original goals for the summit were pretty lofty, with hopes that there would be an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 50% of those in 1990 by 2050, it now appears that there is considerable international discord surrounding setting any actual goals, in terms of concrete numbers.

There are several stumbling blocks standing in the way of making this summit as productive as was first envisioned.  Probably the biggest roadblock is the state of the economy internationally.  Most countries are more focused on getting credit loosened and the economies functioning than on setting lofty goals for climate change.  Still, there will be discussions about goals, with the more likely setting of another summit in the near future to pin down exactly what those goals are.

Currently, the U.S. and China are the biggest offenders of emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. 

In his trip overseas, President Obama made an unscheduled stop in Singapore this morning with APEC leaders(Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation).  At that meeting, APEC announced that the Copenhagen summit will be "the first step in a process," but not the final step in reaching an agreement on how best to combat global warming. 

  "Global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will need to be accompanied by measures, including financial assistance and technology transfer to developing economies for their adaptation to the adverse impact of climate change."  "This is not the occasion for negotiating climate change," said the summit's host, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. "This is APEC."

President Obama has been very much in favor of setting actual targets for the U.S. but so far has been unable to get Congress to enact legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  China is also reluctant to commit to any literal target numbers at this time.

So with two major players in this summit unable or unwilling to agree on binding targets, it is far more likely that the summit will be a discussion with a future summit scheduled to try to agree to some binding accords internationally.

It seems likely now that further negotiations regarding climate change will continue with the next meeting to be held in Mexico, next year.

Currently President Obama is not scheduled to attend the Copenhagen summit.  However, in an interview with Reuters after the Singapore stop, Obama said, “If I am confident that all of the countries involved are bargaining in good faith and we are on the brink of a meaningful agreement and my presence in Copenhagen will make a difference in tipping us over the edge, then certainly that's something that I will do."

Resources:

DOW Jones News:  APEC Leaders Water Down Goals On Climate Change

ABC News:  Reality Check on Climate Summit