What to Watch for in Copenhagen

Carbon targets, money honeys, watchdogs, and protests -- welcome to Climate-palooza 2009!

BY CHRISTINA LARSON | DECEMBER 7, 2009

Casual observers could be forgiven for treating the two-week U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen, which began Monday, a bit like surgery: We care about the outcome -- but please just wake us up and deliver the final verdict when it's all over.

Last month, world leaders announced that they no longer expect to reach a fully binding legal agreement in Copenhagen, but Barack Obama's last-minute decision to attend the final day of the conference signals that the U.S. president now thinks there will be something significant to announce on that date. (And perhaps to take credit for?) Until then, here are some developments to watch. How these debates play out could determine what, if anything, will emerge from this month's gathering.

ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

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Christina Larson is a contributing editor at Foreign Policy and a Bernard L. Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation.

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6:24 AM ET

January 2, 2010