Paris Locked Down as Leaders Arrive for Climate Conference
November 29 2015 - 8:40PM
Dow Jones News
PARIS—Heads of state from some 150 countries began arriving in
Paris Sunday for an international climate conference, triggering a
lockdown of a city already on high alert after the Nov. 13 terror
attacks.
The police closed major routes Sunday afternoon between
airports, downtown Paris and the Le Bourget conference center where
the conference known as COP21 will take place. Authorities told
Parisians to not take to their cars and avoid using public
transport through to the end of Monday, when the main routes will
be closed for the whole day.
The terror attacks that left 130 dead have chilled the
atmosphere in the French capital ahead of the climate conference
after over two years of careful diplomacy to prepare a global
agreement aimed at limiting the rise in temperatures.
Using powers under a state of emergency, French authorities have
banned public gatherings in Paris that climate activists hoped
would be leave a legacy from the city's hosting of the
conference.
"It is traumatic and a real handicap that only those already
involved will be able to express themselves," said Nicolas Hulot, a
climate activist and close adviser to the government in his role as
special envoy for the environment. "But I'm well placed to know
that we have excellent reasons to ban these marches."
Still, thousands flouted the ban on protests and formed a human
chain to call on leaders to do more to fight climate change. The
chain spanned an area near where gunmen and suicide bombers
unleashed carnage just over two weeks ago.
Later, riot police fired tear gas as they clashed with
demonstrators who refused to disperse from Place de la Republique,
north east of central Paris. News channels showed pictures of
candles and flowers from a memorial to the victims of Paris attacks
scattered after the confrontation. Police said 174 demonstrators
were detained.
With two police still hunting two men they suspect of
involvement in the Paris attacks, French authorities have mobilized
2,800 police officers at the Le Bourget site where the 150 world
leaders will address the COP 21 conference one after another
Monday. France has also tightened security on a national level by
deploying 8,000 gendarmes and police officers to check papers at
borders that are normally open.
"With a very high threat against our country, the success of the
COP 21 also depends on an optimal security," the interior ministry
said.
The speeches by world leaders will kick off nearly two weeks of
talks, during which diplomats will try to overcome obstacles to
getting nearly 200 countries to sign up to a deal to try to limit
global warming.
In the build up to the talks in Paris, countries have already
published commitments to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. But
experts say that the sum of the pledges will fall short of limiting
a rise in temperatures that would cause irreversible damage to the
planet.
Negotiators are now trying to find an agreement to revise
pledges up every five years to meet the targets in the future. But
some countries are hesitant to legally bind themselves to
commitments that could limit their future economic development.
"We must convince all countries so that there is an ambitious
agreement, which means a binding agreement," French President Franç
ois Hollande said Sunday. "If there are no binding elements in the
agreement, there won't be any credibility."
Noemie Bisserbe contributed to this article.
Write to William Horobin at William.Horobin@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2015 20:25 ET (01:25 GMT)
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