(AP) — Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters are taking to the streets on a third day of demonstrations against the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, where violent riots have overshadowed some protest events.
About 20,000 protesters, including families, socialists, Kurdish groups and anarchists waving flags and shouting anti-capitalist slogans, marched through the city as G-20 leaders were inside the summit grounds tackling contentious issues like climate change, trade and terrorism.
Thousands of police officers were accompanying the marches, but many had removed their helmets and watched as protesters sang, danced and played music.
The gathering Saturday afternoon came after aggressive riots overnight in the city’s Schanzenviertel neighborhood, which is only a few hundred meters (yards) away from the summit grounds.
President Vladimir Putin says Russia will meet its obligations under the Paris climate agreement.
Speaking at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Putin said that “we honor the Paris agreement.” He added that Russia has made decisions related to the implementation of the deal and intends to implement them.
Macron hailed Putin’s pledge as “very important.”
Russia, the world’s fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, was among the 195 countries that signed the 2015 Paris agreement but it delayed its ratification for at least two years.
Russia’s carbon emissions reduction goals are very modest, and it also insisted that it be given the maximum potential credit for carbon adsorbed out of the atmosphere by vast Siberian forests.