Oh my goodness, there have been so many pre-talks leading up to the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change, it’s hard to keep track of all of them. But guess what? There’s another one, happening right about now, in London.

Representatives from countries that are part of the Major Economic Forum (MEF), comprising 17 of the world’s biggest polluters, are in two days of meetings with representatives from developing nations and the United Nations to try and find some common ground on climate change, only 50 days before the Copenhagen Conference is to start. 50 days!!! The AFP (via TerraDaily) gets the scoop:

“We represent about 90 percent of global emissions, so if we can get a way forward and narrow some of the differences between the… countries that represent the lion’s share of the problem, then it might make those UN talks easier,” British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC.

So far, these informal talks haven’t produced many results, but without laying groundwork prior to Copenhagen, we can only imagine how little would get done once 192 countries sat down to meet for the first time. As it stands, the “London talks will focus on emissions cuts, the protection of forests and climate finance,” the last of which has been given quite a bit of attention recently, as estimates come out for how many billions of dollars it might cost developed countries to mitigate climate change.

So though we might not get any tangible results out of this conference in London, I’m glad that the nations (most) responsible for global warming realize the gravity of the situation, and are aware that a lot of wood needs to be chopped between now and a global agreement on climate. Here’s to hoping that all these meetings produce more results than burned fuel to get the delegates there.

photo credit: thebadastronomer’s flickr photostream/Creative Commons