Greenpeace Activists Protest in France

The unexpected protest took place a couple of hours before the National Assembly, the lower house of France’s parliament, was due to start a debate on the Copenhagen climate conference which begins next week.

Waving banners and calling on French President Nicolas Sarkozy to act now, the protesters called for a commitment to cutting gas emissions that are responsible for global warming.

[Unidentified Protester, Greenpeace]:
„We wanted to send a message to the president and the National Assembly to demand they take concrete action in Copenhagen for a strong reduction of CO2 gases to stop global warming.“

About a dozen protesters dressed in red jumpsuits climbed up the ladder of a fire truck and jumped onto the roof, defying the normally tight security that surrounds parliament.

Some members of parliament welcomed the protest.

[Noel Mamere, Member of Parliament]:
„We’re five days from the opening of the Copenhagen summit with a president who will represent France and industrialized countries that have an ecological debt towards the developing countries to whom we are very demanding. So Greenpeace is saying nothing more than: ‚take your responsibilities because it’s the fate of future generations that’s at stake.'“

But the protest was an embarrassment for the security forces in charge of protecting the seat of French democracy.

Several Greenpeace activists were arrested after the incident.

(NTDTV)