High-stakes climate poker

In six months' time, diplomats from 200 countries will meet in Copenhagen to try to agree a complex global agreement on climate-change abatement. It is a tall order, writes Conal Walsh

COPENHAGEN – intended to spawn a successor to the Kyoto Protocol – may be the last serious chance to put a brake on global warming. Diplomatic brinkmanship in the Danish capital is inevitable, but also fraught with risk. Green groups are pinning their hopes on Barack Obama, the new US president. In contrast to his predecessor, Obama has declared the US' intention to take the lead on reducing carbon emissions. But his efforts could yet be stymied by political opposition at home or by reluctance from China and India meaningfully to cut their own emissions while their economies are still developing. Pre-summit meetings have failed to produce much agreement, suggesting no accord will appear befo