In the wake of the November 13 terrorist attack in Paris, French authorities ordered the cancellation of all demonstrations during the climate talks that began in the city on Monday. The cancellation included the massive protest march that had been set to take place on Sunday in Paris. Climate Coalition 21 organizers had expected some 200,000 protesters to turn out. So as an alternative, protesters arrived before dawn Sunday to place 22,000 pairs of shoes on the pavement at the Place de la Republique in Paris:
There were work shoes and tiny ballerina’s slippers and high equestrian boots and even the occasional swimming flipper. (Ominous.) Eloi—age 11, according to his note—had donated sandals, and Marie—age 41—her sneakers. Among these sat a pair of the Pope’s finest, donated to express his fellowship with those protesting climate change, and rebuking the laws that prevented the march.
In addition to the shoes, Climate Coalition 21 organized thousands of protesters to form a human chain throughout the city:
“Today’s human chain sets the stage for the creative and powerful ways in which civil society will continue to mobilize throughout the coming weeks as the climate talks unfold in Paris,” said Nicolas Haeringer 350.org campaigner in France. “The movements call for climate justice is more urgent than ever as we see the climate crisis unfold worldwide,” he added.
Late Sunday, the French interior minister announced that 208 people had been arrested in Paris for what police claimed was initiating violence. Protesters were reported to have thrown projectiles at police, including candles and shoes that were part of a memorial to the victims of the November 13 attacks. Police responded with tear gas and flash-bang grenades. Some of those arrested were released, leaving 174 in detention. Some insiders said it wasn’t climate activists who clashed with the police but merely disrupters.
In the week before the climate talks, authorities also put 24 climate activists under house arrest.
“These 24 people have been placed under house arrest because they have been violent during demonstrations in the past and because they have said they would not respect the state of emergency,” Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a speech in Strasbourg on Saturday. “These people have no connection at all with the terrorist movement, but our forces need to be totally focused on the protection of the French people.” [...]
The 24 activists under house arrest are set to be freed after Dec. 12, the last day of the summit. One detainee,who identified herself as Amélie to France 24 News, said she is unable to leave her town of Rennes, she must register at the local police station three times a day, and she is prohibited from leaving her home between the hours of 8pm and 6am.
Besides the demonstrations in Paris, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in cities throughout the world. The BBC reported that one organizing group said a total of 570,000 people had participated in 175 countries at 2,100 climate talks-related events. The protests included an estimated 50,000 people who marched in central London and 45,000 who demonstrated in Sydney, Australia, said to be the largest-ever such rally in that city.
Some 20,000 marched in Madrid. Thousands also marched in Bilbao, Barcelona, Seville, and other Spanish cities. Four thousand marched in Berlin. “Science guy” Bill Nye spoke at a city hall protest attended by 5,000 people in New York City.
There were also marches across a glacier in southern Chile, a march across the equator in Kenya and protests in the Marshall Islands, a Pacific territory of the United States that is threatened with rising seas due to global warming.