DOHA, Qatar -- As ministers from around the world arrive in this sprawling desert city to haggle over climate change action, island leaders are drawing a line in the sand.

Convincing the biggest climate change polluters to rein in more greenhouse gas emissions before 2020 has become the top goal for small island states at this year's annual U.N. climate talks.

It is likely to be an elusive goal -- the United States, the European Union and others have made clear they don't plan on beefing up the plans they put on the table in 2009 for cutting carbon -- but island negotiators say they won't go back to their slowly submerging countries without new pledges.

"We are talking about the survival of whole nations. We are talking about existential threats," said Kieren Keke, minister of foreign affairs for Nauru, the world's smallest republic, which is leading a coalition of island states here.

Island nations have submitted a work plan that calls on countries to work sector by sector to look for ways to cut more emissions in the short term.

"The initial response [from developed countries] is that they can't do more and they're at their limits. We simply don't agree with that," Keke said.

The Doha meeting, which began Nov. 26 and ends Friday, represents something of a turning point in U.N. climate talks. Last year in Durban, South Africa, countries tentatively agreed to turn the entrenched dynamics of climate action on their head. Come 2020, they agreed, emitters of all sizes and levels of wealth, not just the richest industrialized nations, will be legally obligated to cut emissions.

This year, negotiators are laying the groundwork for that 2020 agreement, which is expected to be signed in 2015. In the meantime, though, poor countries say they have reams of unfinished business -- including convincing developed nations not to abandon the still-chugging-along Kyoto Protocol, to deliver firm financial pledges and to pump up emissions targets enough to avert catastrophic warming.

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"Everybody is going to hear the same thing from [small islands], something that is very simple until it gets boring. Islands are all about ambition, ambition, ambition," said Ambassador Ronny Jumeau of the Republic of Seychelles. He lashed out at those who have accused islands of stalling the talks with their hard-line positions.

"There is something wrong in a negotiation where the victims are blamed for stalling the process," he said. "You cannot expect to sit on the other side of a table negotiating with people who are desperate and expect them to give if you're not prepared to give back something."

Meanwhile, attitudes toward the United States appear markedly different than in past years. The anger and palpable frustration toward America that marked last year's gathering in Durban is largely absent in this sterile conference hall where protests are limited to government-approved gatherings.

On the other hand, diplomats say their hopes and expectations for President Obama's second term are now tempered by four years of disappointment.

"I had no choice but to refine my expectations," said Tony deBrum, the Marshall Islands' minister-in-assistance to the president. On Obama's election to a second term in office, deBrum said he hopes the president will show more courage and confidence on climate action. "This is his last chance to make good," he said.

Hurricane Sandy is on the lips of many here who say they hope the disaster that hit the U.S. Northeast spurs Obama to action. Still, there seems to be little hope that it will translate to the international stage.

"I think Obama should appoint [New York City] Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg to be his new climate change negotiator," deBrum said. As both a fiscal conservative and an advocate for climate action who experienced Hurricane Sandy firsthand, Bloomberg would "bring some sense to the U.S. position," he said.

Ambassador Colin Beck of the Solomon Islands said he was heartened when Obama mentioned climate change in his speech after the election.

"Now, and after the storm, I think things will totally change," Beck said.

Added Jumeau, "Obama is the only hope we have. This is the year of his legacy."