Like Copenhagen’s COP15, the next international climate talks have a lot of hopes pinned on them.

Greenpeace activists 2010

“If we do not keep momentum in Cancun and build on what was achieved in Copenhagen, then there is a risk that some key parties will start to simply lose interest in the international UN process,” said European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard at a pre-summit meeting in Mexico City.

“It’s probably going to be tough” in Cancun, Hedegaard told AFP, acknowledging that the goal of an internationally binding deal had slipped given the unchanging positions of China and the United States.

The two giants clashed at a UN climate meeting in China in October, accusing each other of blocking progress ahead of Cancun.

“In the end, what matters is that the world’s two largest emitters … that they also say: ‘Yes, we really want to do this,’” Hedegaard said.  . . . Hedegaard called for a practical approach and smaller goals, such as deals on deforestation, setting up climate warning systems, progress on financing, and encouraging the transfer of cleaner technology to poorer countries. . . . . “

Read more here. The two largest emitters of greenhouse gases at this point in time are the U.S. and China.  Per capita, the U.S. is far and away the highest emitter.

Mexico, the country hosting the conference this year in Cancun, has much more specific goals and talks about the importance of the talks more bluntly.

Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday the U.N. climate talks she will co-host this month should zero in on immediate goals such as the creation of a Green Fund, as hopes fade for a sweeping result.

Failure to achieve even a “bare minimum” set of decisions would undermine the credibility of the already troubled negotiations on a broader climate pact, Patricia Espinosa said in an interview on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meeting.

Prospects for the Nov 29-Dec 10 climate change talks in the Mexican resort of Cancun have dimmed in recent months because of near-deadlock in the 194-nation negotiations over how to share the burden in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. . . . . “

Read more here. In a related story, the China talks ahead of the Mexican conference didn’t go well either.