Canadian media say Martin's government stands no chance of surviving a 'no confidence' parliamentary vote planned by opposition parties for Monday evening.
If the government falls, Environment Minister Stephane Dion will have to hit the campaign trail instead of focusing on achieving consensus at the two-week United Nations conference on measures to halt climate change.
The timing of the government's toppling would be a blow to Dion who has spent the past year travelling throughout the world to muster support for measures to reduce greenhouse gases, according to the New York Times.
Also, Martin has been keen to present Canada as a leader on environmental issues by hosting the conference which will look at the next round of commitments on climate change - for developed and developing countries alike.
Between 8,000 and 10,000 delegates are expected at the conference, which comes six years after the 1997 Kyoto Protocol took effect.
More than 30 industrialized countries are supposed to reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases by at least five per cent of their 1990 levels by 2012, according to the treaty.
Beyond 2012, richer states are preparing to pledge cuts of 30 per cent by 2020, as a step towards their declared aim of 90 per cent reductions by 2050, while developing nations have agreed an initial target of five per cent.
Instead of pushing for commitments to these measures over the next two weeks, Martin and Dion may be obliged to start securing votes for the Liberal Party ahead of general elections, likely to take place in January.
Martin's government is weathering the fallout of a report which implicated the ruling Liberal party in the misappropriation of millions of dollars of public money.
