World presses leaders for Paris deal

Protesters in French capital clash with cops

Protesters linked hands near the heart of the Paris terror attacks on Sunday but others clashed with the police, giving an emotional jolt to world leaders flying into the French capital to try to save Earth from climate catastrophe.

As hundreds of thousands of people joined protests worldwide, the human chain aimed to send a highly symbolic message to leaders on the eve of the official opening of a 195-nation UN climate summit in Paris.

More than 325,000 people across 175 countries were involved in the rallies, according to a preliminary estimate by Greenpeace, one of the organisers.

French authorities cancelled two climate demonstrations in the City of Light after gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people on November 13 for security reasons.

Though the Paris protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, a small band of anti-capitalist militants clashed with the riot police in the late afternoon leading to the arrests of about 100 people.

Instead of marching, many activists left thousands of pairs of shoes — weighing more than four tonnes according to organisers — on Place de la Republique square. A pair of running shoes was left by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, and Pope Francis sent shoes to be placed on his behalf.

In the first organised demonstration in the French capital since the attacks, climate protesters of all ages lined the wind-blown streets to link up in a two-kilometre human chain.

“Hear our voices! We are here!” they chanted.

“There was a lot of solemnity, dignity on the pavements. There was a powerful current that passed between people’s hands,” said Genevieve Azam, spokesperson for organising group Attac.

“It was a pleasure to be able to lift the lid that has weighed on French people since the attacks.”

Protesters left a 100-metre gap in the human chain outside the Bataclan concert hall, the site where gunmen killed 90 people, as a mark of respect to the victims. Hours later, though, the riot police fired teargas at protesters who pelted them with bottles and candles in Place de la Republique.