By Ami Gagne

Paris authorities stated on Nov. 18, 2015 that climate marches following the Nov. 29 UN climate conference (COP21) would not be authorized for security reasons. Following the terror attack in Paris, the French government banned all public demonstrations to avoid “unnecessary risks,” as world leaders from 159 countries arrived to reach the first ever universal climate agreement. After the failure of Copenhagen in 2009, the Paris climate talks began with high hopes. Parisian environmental activists expected over 200,000 people to attend the climate march during the summit as a measure of pressuring the government to take action.

Environmental activists criticized the French government’s decision by stating that “authorities have handed a megaphone to the corporations and taken the megaphone away from social movements.” Climate justice activist Naomi Klein disclosed that the French authorities enforced “unprecedented restrictions on civil society.”

The French government’s measures were not entirely successful, as several demonstrations still occurred in the capital. Activists chanted: “State of emergency, police state. You can’t take away our right to demonstrate.” Armed with riot gear, tear gas, and stun grenades, police took 174 people into custody and placed 24 environmental activists under house arrest.

Illustration by Ami Gagne
Illustration by Ami Gagne

The demonstrators in Paris were silenced but they took a new and imaginative measure to ensure their voices were heard. Activists who pledged nonviolence participated in “Marching Shoes,” where demonstrators placed over 10,000 pairs of shoes in Place de la Republique as their “voice.” The shoes symbolized the presence of the activists who were forced to refrain from their climate march. “Our shoes will march for us,” stated one of the organizers.

Greenpeace executive Jean-Francois Julliard stated that he respects the French government’s decision. Julliard also says that people around the world should protest on the behalf of those who can’t, which can take on a greater significance. “In hundreds of towns and cities across the world, people will still march for the climate, for Paris and for our shared humanity. We stand for a vision of human cooperation that the murderers sought to extinguish. They will not succeed.”

Despite the cancellation of the Paris climate march, 700,000 people around the world took to the street voicing their opinions, generating close to 2,000 protests in around 150 countries.

This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol. 8 No. 4 (Jan/Feb 2016).