“I think people working on this issue from around the world, irrespective of their different religious beliefs, share a common belief in the potential of humanity to work together to solve problems”, he said. “Organizers are also encouraging activists to still plan on coming to Paris for the final days of the conference to make sure people, not the polluters or politicians, have the final word”.
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While a major march planned for November 29 has been scrapped, there will be more than 2,000 rallies in cities worldwide to press demands for action from the leaders in Paris, said the envoy.
But campaigners organising the march say they want to do all they can to ensure the Paris rally can go ahead and will be talking to the French authorities to see what is possible.
But organizers said such a dramatic downsizing “would not be acceptable”. More than 110 heads of state are expected to attend the conference, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. In a blog post published Wednesday, Dearden wrote, “It will be deeply ironic if climate activists from around the world are among the first to fall foul of France’s emergency powers”.
The shows, scheduled for December 4 and 5, are to be held in a concert venue in central Paris – about two miles north-west of the theater where 89 of the 129 victims of last Friday’s attacks were killed.
“(The conference) won’t fix everything but the best possible agreement will be one that very clearly sets the world on a path to… avoiding global warming of two degrees”, he said. According to AFP, security forces will also keep close watch on “extreme” environmental groups and advocates.
Andrew Steer, president of the World Resources Institute, said it would be hard for visiting leaders to express their solidarity with France after the Paris attacks and then say they were not in the mood to seal a global climate change deal. “We fully share their concerns about public safety – just as we fully oppose unnecessary crackdowns on civil liberties and minority populations”.
“This is not the time to step back”, Mazounie told The Guardian.
“This is a source of huge regret, but we must respect their decision”. “Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time”, said the communique marking the end of the summit in the Turkish resort of Antalya.
“Potential curtailment of civil society activities could have a negative effect on the necessary political pressure for increasing the level of ambition and quality of the agreement overall”, he said.
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‘The Australian government can help COP21 be a real catalyst for action by supporting vital positions for that scenario: strong ratchet mechanisms; inclusion of a long term 2050 net zero emissions goal, and; delivering on commitments to scale up climate finance support for developing countries, ‘ Connor said.
