Is the Copenhagen conference going to be a success?

This is just not true. Many developing countries are making commitments, South Africa in the last day, India shortly before, and China is already committed to making cuts. Developing nations do not really have a choice, they are the ones who are going to be affected most by climate change and if they are to persuade the developed nations to act further they need to show that they can act too. 
 
Poverty can't be given as a reason to ignore global warming as climate change is an important (but not the most important) cause of poverty in the developing nations is the deprivation of their ecosystems and environment. Desertification is threatening most North and sub-Saharan Africa and tangible evidence is the fact that the Sahara desert is growing tremendously each year. Higher temperatures and desertification are causing serious problems in farming therefore intensifying poverty. 
 
It'll be a potentially bitter pill to swallow, but if the developing countries can get the developed countries to help out enough it's definately possible for them to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. It may seem unfair for developing countries to cut down their emissions, when they actual footprint per person its not even close to the one of a US Citizen, countries like China and India due to their population, need to do something about it. In recent weeks they have indeed proven to be committed to this global issue. Simply dismissing the possibility that they will make cuts gives them the oppurtunity to live up to the media's pessimistic expectations.

The developing world will never make commitments to cut their own CO2 emissons. Each does not want to hurt how competitive they are.

Commitments made on paper do not necessarily equate to concrete action. The fact remains that many developing countries have large populations, not to mention a growing middle class, which consumes energy resources more intensively. The developing world argues that the developed world made most of the emissions so far and so they should be the ones making all the cuts. “Although Africa is least responsible for global warming,” it suffers most from a problem that it didn’t create, Jean Ping, chairman of the 52-member African Union Commission, said in an Aug. 25 speech in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. "Even if the cut were to be made in accordance to what level of pollution you contribute …African’s will really make no impact."[[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aMFGq4Kuvh2g]] Not only do they have very little impact but the developing world has more important priorities such as reducing poverty and ensuring their populations have enough to eat.

While the least developed feel unable to commit to fighting climate change the industialising are unwilling. Developing countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia would not really be willing cut down their CO2 emissions. After all, the main motive of developing countries is to become a developed country some day. In this sense growing Asian countries simply wont commit because it hurts they're growing manufacturing industries too much. By committing to reduce emissions may dampen their developing process. Not an option politically.

However this is increasingly happening even in Africa where during the last 2 decades CO2 is being produced at an ever highter rate.[[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/envpdf/CO2Change.pdf ]] Of course, emissions in Angola or Sudan are total incomparable with that in US, RF or Ch, but the growth in the region very rapid. Africa is potentially a low cost workshop of the world. Bangladesh and Cambodia have already become sewing workshops of the world brands, and according to the UN statistics it’s growth is more than 150% and 800% since 1990.[[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/air_co2_emissions.htm]]