PARIS: Protesters joined a worldwide wave of marches on Saturday demanding leaders craft a pact to avert a climate catastrophe when they gather in a still-shaken Paris.

From Australia to New Zealand, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Japan, people rallied at the start of a weekend of popular protests pleading for world powers to overcome the logjams when the UN climate summit officially opens in the French capital on Monday.

“Protect our common home,” declared placards held aloft as thousands gathered in Melbourne.

Some 150 leaders, including US President Barack Obama, China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, will attend the start of the Paris conference, which is tasked with reaching the first truly universal climate pact.

The goal is to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius, perhaps less, over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by curbing fossil fuel emissions blamed for climate change.If they fail to do so, scientists warn of a world that will be increasingly inhospitable to human life, with superstorms, drought, and rising sea levels that swamp vast areas of land. On the eve of Saturday’s protests, French President Francois Hollande, host of the November 30-December 11 talks, warned of the obstacles ahead for the 195 nations seeking new limits on heat-trapping gas emissions from 2020.

“Man is the worst enemy of man. We can see it with terrorism,” said Hollande, who spoke after leading ceremonies in Paris to mourn the victims of the deadly November 13 bombing and shooting attacks that sowed terror in the French capital.

“But we can say the same when it comes to climate. Human beings are destroying nature, damaging the environment. It is therefore for human beings to face up to their responsibilities for the good of future generations.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2015