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French climate change protestors join Friday's worldwide rallies

Thousands of people joined a demonstration in Paris on Friday to demand greater political action to combat climate change, although estimates of the turnout, ranging from a police figure of 10,000 to the 30,000 claimed by organisers, were well below massive rallies held simultaneously in Germany and the US.

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Yelling slogans and waving placards, protesters, young and old, took to the streets of France for a third time this year, demanding world leaders wake up to the threat of climate change, reports Radio France Internationale.

Chanting: "1,2,3 degrees, is a crime against humanity," activists and environmental groups gathered on Friday at place de la Nation in south-eastern Paris, to urge nations to keep temperatures from rising to dangerous levels.

Perched on top of a massive statue representing the Triumph of the French Republic, with a woman at its helm, some demonstrators held banners reading 'Mother Earth is dying,' and 'We must act now.'

Organisers say around 30,000 people in France joined a global strike against climate change, heeding the rallying cry of the Swedish 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg. Officials put the number at just under 10,000.

See more of this report, with photo reportage, from RFI.