Copenhagen, December 16: Police fired tear gas and arrested more than 100 activists who tried to march on the UN climate conference here.
The activists were arrested near the Bella Center train station. Police with dogs fired tear-gas as hundreds of activists neared the tightly guarded Bella Center, where 194 nations are negotiating a new global deal to battle the ravages of change.
The activists accused the United Nations of ignoring the interests of those worst hit by climate change after excluding thousands of environmental campaigners from the overcrowded venue.
Hundreds of protesters marched on Wednesday towards a Copenhagen conference centre where delegates were discussing a global climate pact, and a spokesman said they planned to break through a police cordon.
The demonstrators set out from Taarnby, a suburb of Copenhagen a few kilometres (miles) from the Bella Centre conference facility where 190 governments were meeting. Light snow flurries fell as they started their march.
Climate Justice Action, which organised the march, said 1,000 people were expected to take part. Police declined to estimate the number of protesters.
“We will get past the police cordon so that we can hold a popular assembly and discuss with delegates from the summit … to get a climate solution,” said spokesman Peter Nielsen.
It remained unclear if they would attempt to enter the building or only get past high fences surrounding the conference centre.
“In front of the Bella Centre, we will meet with NGOs and social movements who were excluded from the negotiations and who will make a protest because their voices can’t be heard,” Nielsen said.
He said demonstrators would also converge on the Bella Centre from other directions.
—Agencies