In December this year, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will descend on Copenhagen to wrangle over the details of a new global climate deal — a potential successor to the Kyoto Protocol. See Nature’s Road to Copenhagen special for more coverage.

Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has been dealt a blow in his attempts to push through a cap and trade bill to limit carbon emissions before the Copenhagen meeting, but he may profit in the longer term.

The opposition Liberal Party, which had already partially disembowelled itself debating whether or not to support the bill, has now gone into meltdown. Its leader Malcolm Turnbull had made a deal with Rudd to get the legislation passed in Australia’s Senate, where Rudd’s ruling Labor Party does not have a majority.

Yesterday 10 politicians quit the Liberal Party in protest at the bill and opponents successfully prevented any vote in the Senate with some old school filibustering tactics.

Turnbull insisted he would not back down in his support for the bill.

“I will not take a backward step. There is too much at stake. It’s not just the credibility of the party,” he told the Seven Network (via AFP).

The opposition party also has some political incentive to pass the bill when the Senate debates it again on Monday. The Senate has already rejected the plans once before, in August, if it rejects them again Rudd can choose to call a general election early next year.

Opinion polls suggest he would increase his party’s majority, says Reuters.

“The people that are opposing me within the party do not believe in climate change at all. They are turning back the clock and Australians will punish us very, very severely at the next election if these guys have their way and we go to the election as the ‘do nothing on climate change’ party,” Turnbull warned (Seven Network via AP).