Thousands take to the streets at start of weekend of climate change protests

Thousands turned out for climate change marches in Manila and Brisbane on Saturday, part of a weekend of action across the globe to demand results from next week’s historic Paris summit. Religious clergy, students and activists marched through the Philippine capital calling for curbs on emissions to mute the impact of climate change, which is blamed for a spike in typhoons and extreme weather that has wreaked havoc on the nation. The march, attended by more than 2,500 people, was one of a number of events scheduled in different parts of the country. In Australia, where Melbourne on Friday kicked off the weekend rallies, 5,000 people gathered in Brisbane for a march led by Aboriginal and Pacific islander representatives and youth groups.

We want to send a message to the rest of the world, especially the world leaders at the climate talks, to say that our survival is not negotiable

Denise Fontanilla, Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development

The Philippines has been identified as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. "Protect our common home,“ and "climate justice,” were written on the placards held aloft by the surging crowd. In Australia, Larissa Baldwin, from an indigenous climate youth network, said: “We are walking together because we know what it’s like to protect our country.” Hundreds of thousands more protesters are expected to take to the streets on Saturday in Asian cities as well as Johannesburg and Edinburgh, with similar events set for Sunday in Seoul, Rio de Janeiro, New York and Mexico City. In Paris, activists plan to create a two-kilometre (1.2-mile) human chain but they will break it as they pass the Bataclan concert hall.