France will limit a U.N. climate summit in Paris starting in two weeks’ time to core negotiations and cancel planned marches and concerts after the attacks that killed 129 people, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Monday.
He said no foreign leaders had asked France to postpone the Nov 30-Dec 11 summit, which aims to map out a global accord to limit greenhouse gas emissions, a move which would amount to “abdicating to the terrorists”.
But he told RTL radio that “a series of demonstrations planned will not take place and it will be reduced to the negotiations … a lot of concerts and festivities will be canceled.”
Environmental activists are due to meet later on Monday to rethink plans for a march on Nov. 29, the eve of the summit, that they had hoped would attract perhaps 200,000 people to put pressure on governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Mainstream groups say they will respect any bans, decreed under emergency powers in France after the attacks on Friday that France blamed on Islamic State.