December 2, 2015
'No Planet B,' marchers worldwide tell leaders before U.N. climate summit
More than half a million people from Australia to Paraguay joined the biggest day of climate change activism in history on Sunday, telling world leaders gathering for a summit in Paris there is "No Planet B" in the fight against global warming.
In the French capital, where demonstrations were banned by the authorities after attacks by Islamic State militants killed 130 people on Nov. 13, activists laid out more than 20,000 shoes in the Place de la Republique to symbolize absent marchers on the eve of the summit.
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Among the high heels and sandals were a pair of plain black shoes sent by Pope Francis, who has been a vocal advocate for action to prevent dangerous climate change, and jogging shoes from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. One activist, dressed in white as an angel with large wings, held a sign saying "coal kills". |
About 10,000 people joined arms to form a human chain through Paris along the 3-km (2-mile) route of the banned march, organizers said. More than 2,000 events were held in cities including London, Sao Paulo, New York and Asuncion, Paraguay, on the eve of the Paris summit which runs from Nov. 30-Dec. 11 and will be attended by about 150 heads of government.
About 683,000 people attended the rallies around the world, said Sam Barrat, a spokesman for Avaaz, one of the organizers.
"And this was done even without Paris," after the March there was banned, he said,
Around the world, activists marched, dressed as polar bears or penguins at risk from melting ice, or chanted slogans such as "climate justice".
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/29/us-climatechange-summit-demonstrations-idUSKBN0TI00720151129#b83jCesdqkbLw1RF.97
