Reuters AlertNet - Forty leaders plan to attend climate talks-UN

"My understanding is that 40 heads of state have indicated their intention to be present," he said. They include British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy as well as leaders of African and Caribbean nations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering attending, a spokesman said in Berlin. U.S. President Barack Obama is among those undecided.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has not formally invited leaders to the talks, currently due to be limited to environment ministers. "There is no official figure" of how many leaders will come, a Danish spokesman said.

[Will all these other people still attend?]

An estimated 15,000 people representing Governments, NGOs, IGOs, along with over 1500 journalists will travel to Copenhagen from all over the world for the conference.