“No matter the final plans for the march in Paris, we urge people to join other Global Climate Marches around the world to show their solidarity and support-there couldn’t be a more important time to push for climate justice, and the peace it can help bring”.
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As a moment of hope, COP21 in Paris will tell how much the whole world stands in solidarity, and how much the whole world also needs to mobilise its efforts to combat climate change, as it needs to unite to combat terrorism. About 30,000 police were already set to provide security at Le Bourget, and France announced in October that it would reinstate border controls with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain between November 13 and December 13.
Two climate marches through the streets of Paris, scheduled to coincide with an worldwide climate conference in the city later this month, have been cancelled for security reasons following last week’s terror attacks.
“This is a hard decision and will probably disappoint some of those who planned to participate, but under the current context, the safety requirement imposes that”, he added. “We are in a country of free expression-that has always been the source of our power”.
But in the wake of the killings in Paris, French authorities have told the coalition of campaigners it can not proceed. The planned route of the march runs right through some of the areas that were attacked. “We will find new, imaginative ways to ensure our voices are heard at the United Nations conference centre and beyond”.
Nicolas Haeringer, a spokesperson for 350.org said in a statement: “The government can prohibit these demonstrations, but it cannot stop the mobilization and it won’t prevent us strengthening the climate movement”.
Organizers earlier predicted “the largest mass civil disobedience climate justice action that we have ever seen in Europe”. Should a security crackdown result in diminished pressure from the activist community, the chances for a bold climate agreement in Paris may now be reduced. The summit will include debates, workshops, and seminars open to the general public.
Organisers met on Monday and agreed to try to work out a way to hold the demonstration.
No matter what happens at major climate talks in Paris, the globe won’t “U-turn” and pull funds from emerging clean energy markets. On Mondays, organizers encouraged people all over the world to be the part of the marches in cities from Sydney to London.
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We further recall that this mobilization will be global: hundreds of thousands of people will mobilize during the two weeks of negotiations of the COP21 and representatives from the Global South and the Global North will be present in Paris.
