From the WSJ Morning Brief:
The United Nations Climate Change Conference that begins in Poznan, Poland, next week will in some ways mark the end of an era. The U.S.'s long-standing opposition to climate regulation is vanishing, offering new opportunities for cooperation with its allies in Europe and beyond, but to some extent, international climate negotiators will remain in limbo until Jan. 20, when President-elect Barack Obama enters the White House.
My guess is that international climate negotiators might be waiting until at least January 20, 2010 when the income effect increases the demand for climate change policy (i.e., hopefully, the U.S. and other economies will be in the recovery stage of the business cycle [too much to hope that we're in the expansion phase]).