The conference, which will be held in the Danish capital in December, has been billed as a ‘now or never’ event and that the world has no ‘plan B’. This is not the case, Lars-Erik Liljelund, Reinfeldt’s climate advisor, has claimed.

“If there is no agreement in Copenhagen, then it will happen next year, probably in Bonn,” Liljelund says.

Most of those involved in the process leading up to the conference which opens on December 7th realize that a binding agreement is unlikely.

Already back in August Fredrik Reinfeldt, for whom the conference is a culmination of Sweden’s period as Chair of the EU, conceded that the two degree global temperature target was in jeopardy.

Reinfeldt expressed confidence however that a deal would be struck but conceded that much of the ambition from 2006 has been lost and that the distances between world leaders are too great to agree to anything resembling a new Kyoto.

The EU meanwhile has been busy billing the conference as a crossroads for the world’s nations to tackle the climate change issue.

Liljelund’s comments take in this context indicate therefore a further easing of expectations on the outcome of the conference.

He argues that Copenhagen should be seen more as a launch pad for continued efforts and negotiations.

“It was a little unwise to describe the Copenhagen meeting as a more important meeting that it in fact is,” Lars-Erik Liljelund argues.

He does not however see this as an insurmountable problem.

The negotiations are set to continue next year; two meetings are also scheduled – one in Bonn in the summer, and one in Mexico in December.