As explained in a recent Grist post, the unfortunate reality is that it's not looking likely that the hoped-for treaty will come about from the Copenhagen talks this December. This is mostly due to the lack of progress made by the UN negotiations and failure to pass a climate bill in the US.

Instead, negotiators are hoping to at least agree upon a politial framework to approach the climate issue. German Chancellor Angela Merkel commented: “Copenhagen was supposed to be a post-Kyoto regime. Now we are talking about a political framework, and negotiations will drag out longer until we get a treaty.”

Denmark has forged ahead and begun drafts of their own proposed text for the conference. We'll have to stay tuned to see what will ultimately emerge from the talks in just a few weeks.