Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

ENVIRONMENT

IN PICTURES: Tens of thousands march for the climate in France

Tens of thousands of people protested across France Saturday to call for more attention to the climate crisis in the run-up to presidential polls next month.

Published: 13 March 2022 10:20 CET

People take part in a climate protest march in Toulouse

People take part in a "Look up" march, to call on the presidential candidates to take into account the climate emergency, which protesters say is largely absent from the election campaign in Toulouse on March 12th 2022. (Photo by FRED SCHEIBER / AFP)

“Look up,” read one message in giant orange letters demonstrators held up in Paris, urging politicians to make protecting the planet a priority.

Protesters hold placards during a “Look up” march in Paris on March 12th, 2022. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)

The sign was a nod to Netflix hit “Don’t Look Up”, in which astronomers who discover a comet will wipe out the earth try in vain to get politicians to take the threat seriously.

“When are we going to talk about it?” read another sign.

“When are we going to talk about it?” (On en parle quand?) read several of the placards at the Paris “Look Up” protest on March 12th, 2022. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)

The climate crisis took up only 1.5 percent of talking points in media coverage of the election campaign from February 28th to March 6th, a recent survey by climate justice NGOs has found.

Protests took place around the country, with some 32,000 people taking part in Paris, where this photo was taken. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)

Organisers said 80,000 protesters took part across the country, including 32,000 people in Paris. The interior ministry however said just around 40,000 demonstrated, of whom 11,000 in the capital.

People turned out in force for a “Look up” march in Toulouse on March 12th, 2022. (Photo by FRED SCHEIBER / AFP)

In the northern city of Lille, Lydie Lampin Bernand described the climate crisis as “worse than critical.

“I’m only 34 years old, and even I’ve seen the planet slapped in the face with a shovel,” she said.

“We have to protect the land we’ll leave to our children,” she added, but politicians had not so far shown they were up to tackling the challenge.

READ ALSO: FACT CHECK: How committed is France to tackling environmental issues?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Fresh violence rocks French overseas territories

The fresh trouble comes at a sensitive time for France where the new prime minister Michel Barnier is struggling to form a government following snap parliamentary elections and has warned of a “very serious” financial situation.

During an overnight security operation in New Caledonia, two men were killed south of the capital Noumea, the public prosecutor said Thursday, taking the death toll to 13 after months of unrest in the French Pacific territory.

Violence broke out in mid-May over Paris’s plan for voting reforms that indigenous Kanak people fear would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their chances of winning independence.

While unrest in the South Pacific territory has ebbed since mid-July, an AFP journalist witnessed new clashes erupt between French police and civilians in Saint Louis, a heartland of the independence movement just south of Noumea.

On Thursday, public prosecutor Yves Dupas said security forces on an observation mission fired two shots after being “directly threatened by a group of armed individuals”.

The first “hit a man, aged 30, positioned as a lone gunman, in the right side of the abdomen,” Dupas said in a statement.

“The second shot hit a man, aged 29, in the chest.”

‘We are not terrorists’

Police were looking for around a dozen people suspected of involvement in attacks on security forces.

“We’re not terrorists, we’re not in a state of war,” said one mother in the village where the security operation was taking place.

France sent thousands of troops and police to the archipelago, which is home to around 270,000 people and located nearly 17,000 kilometres from Paris.

In violence not seen since the near-civil war of the 1980s, hundreds of people were injured and the damage was estimated at around €2.2 billion.

The electoral change — which requires altering the French constitution — has effectively been in limbo since President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament for new elections that in July produced a lower house with no clear majority.

The road to Saint-Louis in the south of the archipelago’s main island Grande Terre is closed. For the 1,200 inhabitants of Saint-Louis, the only way in or out is by foot after presenting an ID at checkpoints.

Only emergency services and ambulances can otherwise cross into the village.

Almost all other roadblocks across New Caledonia have been lifted, but a curfew between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am remains in place.

Authorities are also under pressure in the French Caribbean island of Martinique, home to around 350,000 people.

Officials ordered a curfew in several districts of Fort-de-France, the island’s main city, and next-door Lamentin, after violent cost-of-living protests.

The curfew, ordered on Wednesday evening, runs between 9:00 pm to 5:00 am and will remain in force until at least September 23.

A McDonald’s restaurant was set on fire this week.

The riots follow protests that began in early September over rising prices.

The prefect of Martinique, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, said authorities have made 15 arrests.

Eleven police officers were injured by gunfire, he said, adding that three rioters also sustained injuries.

SHOW COMMENTS

Url copied to clipboard!