Key players are scaling back expectations that an upcoming summit on climate change will result in an agreement on reducing greenhouse gases.

The United Nations international conference will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December.

Environmental advocates have pinned their hopes for an agreement that would serve as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, on the summit.

But Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen said a legally-binding agreement is unlikely.

"We do not think it will be possible to decide all the finer details for a legally binding regime," he said Thursday, according to the BBC.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged that a legally-binding agreement may not be reached, but said a political agreement would also be a major step forward and would be considered a successful outcome.

Earlier this week, the UN leader's Climate Change Support Team director Janos Pasztor said "it's hard to say how far the conference will be able to go" because the U.S. Congress has not been able to hammer out a climate bill and industrialized nations have not agreed on carbon emissions reduction targets.

There is also little agreement in Ottawa over the future direction of the fight against climate change.

New Democrat Leader Jack Layton has urged politicians to stand up for the environment and restore Canada's reputation as an environmental protector by passing his Climate Change Accountability Act in order to send a strong message about Canada's stance on the environment.

Bill C-311 calls for an 80 per cent reduction from 1990 levels by 2050.

The proposed legislation triggered a raucous demonstration in Commons on Monday, when a group of 200 people began chanting their support for the bill, and were physically removed from the room.

The Conservatives have set a goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 20 per cent from 2006 levels, by 2020.