Moroccan and international demonstrator shout slogans and hold placards during a climate change protest
Thousands of Moroccans and foreigners marched on Marrakesh Sunday to demand "climate justice" from global envoys gathered for UN talks on staving off worst-case-scenario global warming.
"It is an international march for all the people who suffer the results of climate change, yet had no role in causing it," said Mohamed Leghtas of a Moroccan climate coalition of environment, human rights and labour groups.
"Climate change is a triple injustice: committed by the north against the south, by current generations against future ones, and by a minority which enriches itself from fossil fuel energy against the poor who are left to pick up the pieces," he told AFP.
Native Peruvians, Berber groups and African associations formed part of the procession which snaked through the city, brandishing placards reading: "Make love, not CO2," and "1.5 C to stay alive."
The latter refers to the goals of the climate rescue Paris Agreement concluded at the previous round of UN talks in the French capital in 2015, and set the goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), or 1.5 C if possible.
"We are here to demand respect and to urge the world to commit to cutting greenhouse gases," blamed for warming the planet, added Antolin Huascar of Peru's agricultural confederation.
The protest took place on the sidelines of the 22nd Conference of Parties of the UN's climate convention, COP22 for short, which runs until November 18.
Diplomats must negotiate rules for putting the hard-fought Paris Agreement's goals into action.
On Tuesday, they will be joined by dozens of African heads of state, French President Francois Hollande and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
"People must fight for their rights and not count on governments are under pressure from multinational corporations," Khadija Riadi, a Moroccan human rights defender told AFP at the march.
"There can be no climate justice without respect for human rights."
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