The 27th annual international climate summit (COP27), starts this weekend, and it isn’t shaping up as a pivotal moment in the fight against climate change like its predecessors in Kyoto and Paris.

There won’t be any dramatic emission-reduction targets announced, nor any pacts to end fossil-fuel subsidies and coal exports. That’s leading many to question whether the COP conferences have outlived their use.

“I don’t think they’ve proven to be effective in actually coming up with a kind of international agreement with binding limits on countries that would penalize them if they were not to abide by the pledges,” says Matt Huber, professor of geography and the environment and author of “Climate Change as Class War.”

Read more in the Toronto Star article, “Justin Trudeau won’t be at COP27 — and he’s not alone. Has the heyday for global climate conferences come and gone?”