As the last of the day’s climate marches get underway in the western reaches of North America, we will wrap up our live coverage of what has been a record-breaking day in global activism ahead of the COP21 talks in Paris tomorrow.
More than 600,000 people have taken to the streets in 175 countries around the world to call for a strong deal in Paris that will see a swift transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Melbourne and London led the way, with 60,000 people and 50,000 people, respectively, joining marches. Figures including Thom Yorke, Emma Thompson, Charlotte Church and Jeremy Corbyn attended the London gathering.
Protests in Paris turned violent, with police arresting around 200 people after clashes with anti-capitalists and anarchists. Some activists allegedly hurled candles and bouquets from memorials to victims of the 13 November attacks. Organisers of the climate marches have condemned the violence.
Barack Obama boarded a flight to Paris, where he said he will reaffirm the US’s support for France in the face of “barbaric attacks” as well as forge a deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avert the worst ravages of climate change.
Climate talks will go on until 11 December, amid optimism among negotiators that an effective agreement can be reached. Let’s hope Paris can finish the year on a positive note.
Climate events are now underway on the west coast, with people gathering in Los Angeles and Vancouver.
There are tentative estimates of 25,000 people attending the climate march in Ottawa. Organisers expect more than 600,000 people worldwide have attended marches calling for fossil fuels to remain in the ground and for nations to shift to 100% renewable energy use.
May Boeve, executive director of organiser 350.org, said: “The scale and diversity of today’s events are astounding. Worldwide people are ready for the end of fossil fuels and the dawn of renewables. World leaders can no longer ignore this urgent call for action as the climate crisis continues to unfold. It is time for them to stand on the right side of history.”
The rather sedate gatherings taking place in the US and Canada are in contrast to the clashes between protestors and police seen in Paris earlier this week.
French newspaper La Figaro has reported that some activists hurled objects from the memorial to those killed in the 13 November attacks at police. Candles and bouquets were launched in the direction of police, the newspaper said.
Others responded, as “many people managed to form a human chain around the memorial to protect flowers and candles”, La Figaro reported (in French).
350.org, one of the major organisers of the climate marches, said that the clashes had violated a “nonviolent pledge that every group involved in the climate coalition here in France has agreed to.” It has distanced itself from violence but said it opposes any attempt to “unnecessarily clamp down on civil liberties.”
The official climate march in Paris was banned due to security concerns. Around 200 people were arrested during the subsequent clashes, with police using tear gas to disperse protestors.
Climate activists in the US and Canada haven’t been able to muster the kinds of numbers seen at marches in Europe and Australia (in particular), nor is there the celebrity impact of, say, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke DJ-ing for the crowd, as happened in London earlier.
But hundreds of people have shown their support for a shift to renewables across North America, including the White House, New York and the Texas capitol building in Austin.
Ottawa and Vancouver will vie for the largest turnout of climate marchers in Canada. Several thousand people have gathered in Ottawa to hear environmentalist David Suzuki demand the “necessity” of a fully renewable energy system.
Prior to the march, Suzuki said he was glad to see the back of Stephen Harper, the pro fossil fuels former prime minister who was defeated earlier this month by Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party.
“We’ve had nine-and-a-half years of a Harper government that has basically not confronted the issue of climate change,” Suzuki said. “I believe that it is wilful blindness.”
Back in New York, a series of speakers have called for a greater effort to move towards 100% renewable energy. Among them is Bill Nye, aka the science guy.
Organisers have announced that early estimates show the global climate marches are the largest ever held, with a likely total of more than 600,000 people.
Around 570,000 people have already marched in 2,300 events in 175 countries around the world. Further marches in Vancouver, Ottawa and Mexico City are anticipated to push this number over 600,000, more than double the record set in last year’s series of marches.
All this was achieved despite the largest march, in Paris, called off due to security concerns. Instead, thousands of shoes were laid out to symbolise the missing protesters.
According to organisers Avaaz, the largest marches took place in Melbourne (60,000 people) and London (50,000 people).
Singer and activist Charlotte Church was one of those to attend the London march. She spoke to my colleague James Randerson about why she turned up - you can listen to their conversation here.
Climate marches have started in Chicago, where participants were asked to paint the world on their faces, and Ottawa. Climate activists in Canada and the US were recently buoyed by Barack Obama’s blocking of the controversial Keystone pipeline project.
There will be no repeat of the enormous climate march that took place in New York in September last year. That gathering of more than 400,000 people featured plenty of stardust - UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, former US vice president Al Gore, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and actors Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio were among the hordes.
Thanksgiving, which happened on Thursday, has somewhat clipped the wings of organisers in the US. There will, however, be events across the country. In New York, de Blasio will be the target, rather than participant, of a protest, with activists marching around City Hall at 2pm to demand greater investment in renewable energy and full divestment from fossil fuels.
Obama’s comments on the Paris talks, posted on Facebook two hours ago, unsurprisingly laments the recent attacks in the French city before delving into the purpose of his trip:
I’m heading to Paris today to join nearly 200 countries for a global conference on climate change. It’s an opportunity to stand in solidarity with our oldest ally, just two weeks removed from the barbaric attacks there, and reaffirm our commitment to protect our people and our way of life from terrorist threats. It’s also an opportunity for the world to stand as one and show that we will not be deterred from building a better future for our children.
What makes this gathering different is that more than 180 nations have already submitted plans to reduce the harmful emissions that help cause climate change. And America’s leadership is helping to drive this progress. In fact, our businesses and workers have shown that it’s possible to make progress towards a low-carbon future while creating new jobs and growing the economy. Our economic output is at all-time highs, but our greenhouse gas emissions are down towards 20-year lows.
So what we’re trying to do in Paris is put in place a long-term framework for further emissions reductions - targets set by each nation, but transparent enough to be verified by other nations. And we’ll work to mobilize support to help the most vulnerable countries expand clean energy and adapt to the effects of climate change we can no longer avoid.
I’m optimistic about what we can achieve - because I’ve already seen America take incredible strides these past seven years. And with that - I’ll see you in Paris.
Hello from a crisp New York afternoon as events to mark the start of the Paris climate talks start to unfold in the US and Canada.
US president Barack Obama won’t be in the country to see any of them as he is enroute to Paris for the start of COP21. Obama will attend a series of meetings, opening with Xi Jinping, president of China. The White House hopes the meeting of the leaders of the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases will provide a helpful early shove to proceedings, helping avert the kinds of chaos seen at the Copenhagen talks in 2009.
Obama will also meet French president Francois Hollande, where the threat of terrorism is likely to be a topic of conversation as well as global warming. Afterwards, the US president is expected to sit down with leaders of low-lying island nations that are considered particularly vulnerable to climate change.
Leaders of countries such as Kiribati and the Marshall Islands hope the Paris talks not only provide a firm commitment to capping global temperature increases to just 1.5C but also to ensure the delivery of $100 billion in climate finance to help adaptation. Some island leaders aren’t too hopeful over any of this.
I’m signing off for now but my colleague in New York, Oliver Milman, will shortly be taking over the live blog reins. Please keep sharing your photos of the marches via Guardian Witness.
We’ve just posted some video of the protests turning ugly in Paris:
Environmental group 350.org has issued a statement distancing itself from the violent protests:
Starting around 2:30pm, a small group of protesters unaffiliated with the climate movement arrived at Republique and began to clash with the police there, violating the nonviolent pledge that every group involved in the climate coalition here in France has agreed to. Police responded with tear gas and pepper spray. The protest dispersed by around 3:45pm.
I’m still stuck in a corner of the square [Place de la Republique] with about 400 protesters. The space is cramped. About 50mx50m. People are being pulled occasionally from the crowd and dragged into police vans. People here are angry and frustrated that the police have swept everyone up. Some of them are core anarchists. Others are people just caught up in the police clearing of the square. “It seems like they are taking us randomly and just waiting for some of us to turn violent,” said one protester who initially wanted to march for the climate. Police are still sporadically hitting the most confrontational activists with tear gas. The protesters had a sound system that was pumping out heavy dance music for a while. But police moved in and arrested a bunch of those dancing. “We are imprisoned, call the police!” They are yelling.
Charlotte Church brought a choir from Wales to perform a song written for the march. She suggested people on the march should name it. “It’ s an absolute priviledge and honour to march with you today. What we have done here today is stage the biggest climate march in UK history,” she said. Here are the lyrics to the song:
Way before I was born we knew we had learned we should be concerned or we’re doomed
But chose to laugh in this face of an escapable fate...how brave
To pass on the buck to the unborn, how brave
Politics to one little fish means nothing but the opinion of all of us millions must count for something
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