Shoes stand in silent protest at Paris climate conference
More than 20,000 pairs of shoes laid out in the Place de la République as part of symbolic rally
Protesters place hundreds of pairs of shoes at Place de la République
Parisians dropped off their footwear in the Place de la République as part of a symbolic and peaceful rally called by the NGO Avaaz.
Among the mix of flips flops, winter boots and high heels was footwear from notable activists including Pope Francis's formal black shoes, running shoes from UN chief Ban Ki-moon and high heels from designer Vivienne Westwood.
Long-planned climate march in Paris ahead of this week's UN conference was cancelled due to security fears.
There is a ban on public demonstrations in Paris in the wake of the Nov.13 attacks, but thousands of activists and protesters decided to ignore it on Sunday. Many formed a human chain along the route of the planned climate march.
But the unauthorized Paris demonstration turned violent.
The protest turned into a clash between French police and activists gathered in the streets of Paris. Michel Cadot, the Paris police chief, told reporters that police identified 200 to 300 people who violated a ban on all protests under the country's state of emergency.
Cadot said about 100 demonstrators were detained for pelting security forces with glass bottles and even some of the candles that were placed at Place de la République to honour victims of the attacks.
Paris police set off many rounds of tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The CBC's Nahlah Ayed is in Paris covering the conference and gave an update on the situation at Place de la République.
Many climate-related marches went off without a hitch in other cities.
In Canada, thousands gathered in downtown Ottawa for The 100% Possible climate march, organized by a local environmental advocacy group. Other large Canadian demonstrations were held in Halifax and Vancouver.
with files from The Associated Press and Reuters