Some held a giant inflatable snowman under threat of melting from warming caused mainly by burning fossil fuels that the UN panel of climate scientists says will bring desertification, floods, heatwaves and rising seas. The rally was mostly held in a carnival atmosphere but riot police detained about 400 black-clad activists at the rear after some bottles were thrown and windows smashed. They were forced to sit on a street, hands tied behind their backs.
Estimates of the number of people in the march varied from 25,000 by police to 100,000 by organisers, who hope the rallies will put pressure on a summit of 110 world leaders in Copenhagen on December 17-18. "They marched in Berlin, and the wall fell. They marched in Cape Town, and the wall fell," South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu told a candlelit vigil. "They marched in Copenhagen - and we are going to get a real deal."
"There is a lot to fight for in the remaining week of negotiations," said Kumi Naidoo, chair of the organising group "TckTckTck". Activists want the talks to agree a full legal treaty - a goal most governments say is out of reach. Rallies were held around the world, hoping to influence delegates to agree a strong, binding deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions at the 190-nation talks from December 7-18 in Copenhagen.
Thousands of Australians held a "Walk Against Warming" and activists said 4,000 events, such as marches or candlelit vigils, were being held from Fiji to the United States to show support for deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The main group of activists in Copenhagen took a 6km (4 mile) route out of the city to the tightly guarded Bella Center where negotiators were meeting, and held a candlelit vigil.
SHOUT Caroline, a Danish girl aged 7, carried a home-made sign saying: "Look after our world until I grow up". "Mountains are changing, glaciers are melting," said Nepalese Sherpa Pertamba, who came to Denmark to demonstrate with a group of 30 mountaineers. "Now is the time to think about future generations."
In Sydney, protesters carried placards reading: "I like clean energy and I vote", "No meat, no heat" and "No new coal mines", a reference to Australia's status as one of the world's leading exporters of coal. Inside the conference hall in Copenhagen, delegates claimed progress on some fronts but the hardest decisions on cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and funding to help the poor are likely to be left for the summit.
"We have made considerable progress over the course of the first week," Connie Hedegaard, the Danish cabinet minister who presides over talks, told delegates. Delegates said negotiators had advanced on texts such as defining how new green technologies such as wind and solar power can be supplied to developing nations and in promoting use of forests to soak up greenhouse gases. But delegates said there were deep splits on issues such as raising funds for poor nations and sharing the burden of CO2 cuts.
"The next week is going to be crucial," said Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN panel of climate scientists. The Pacific Island of Tuvalu, fearing rising seas could wipe it off the map, stuck to its call for consideration of a new treaty that would force far deeper cuts in greenhouse gases than those under consideration. "The fate of my country rests in your hands," Ian Fry, leading the Tuvalu delegation, told the meeting. "I make this as a strong and impassioned plea."