The Senate, meanwhile, has followed Obama’s deferral of a climate treaty with a delay of its own. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said climate legislation will now be put off until the spring. The news comes as dozens of environment ministers have wrapped up a preparatory meeting in Copenhagen ahead of next month’s summit. Danish Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard said the world is awaiting concrete action from the US on climate change.

Danish Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard: “We all know the difficulties with the American Senate, but I also hope that our American friends feel that there is worldwide expectations that they will deliver in Copenhagen. And I must say that I also interpret what President Obama said today and also what he said in conjunction with the APEC meeting, that they know that they have to deliver also figures in Copenhagen.”

Outside the climate talks, dozens of protesters rallied outside the meeting to protest the plans to delay a legally binding agreement. The activists staged a “die-in,” lying immobile on the ground to symbolize those who would lose their lives because of global warming.

Protester: “These ministers are now working on a mandate of delay rather than a mandate of possibility, and we need to change this. Climate change is causing over 300,000 people’s lives to be lost every year.”