They deployed large portraits of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi, US President Joe Biden, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga along a banner reading “climate inaction = crime against life.”

The protest in the French capital was one of many across the world marking the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice as the COP26 climate talks are taking place in Glasgow.

The crucial UN climate summit opened last Sunday, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries aimed at slowing intensifying global warming and adapting to the climate damage already underway.