Creativity, For Climate's Sake

World leaders at the UN Climate Conference in Paris (COP21) have reached a deal. The summit ran from November 30th to December 11th and hosted hundreds of world leaders and thousands of activists for climate change from around the globe. Here's a look back on some of the creative voices for climate action from the streets of Paris.

Making the invisible, visible

Mirror.com / Via mirror.co.uk

In the wake of the November 13th attacks in Paris, the French government banned people from participating in November 29th's march for climate action, set to coincide with the opening of the Climate Conference and solidarity marches around the globe. Organizers from Avaaz arranged over 22,000 pairs of shoes as a reminder of the people who had hoped to gather. Pope Francis, Vivienne Westwood, and Ban Ki-moon are among many who left a pair of shoes in solidarity.

Oil Spill in the Louvre

Clara Paillard / Via hyperallergic.com

Performance artists and activists sing "Oil, money out of the Louvre, move, move, move" and highlight the oily footprint the Louvre is leaving in the art world. The Louvre is sponsored by two of the six major oil companies in the world.

Corporate Call-Out

Brandalism / Via bbc.com

More than 600 displays critiquing the corporate sponsors of the UN summit on climate change have been installed in advertising spaces across Paris. This 'Brandalism' pointed to hypocrisy in corporate and governmental leadership on climate change around the globe.

Climate Ribbon, public arts ritual.

Photo by Gan Golan / Via climateribbon.squarespace.com

Climate Ribbon is a public arts ritual to grieve what each of us stand to lose to Climate Chaos, and affirm our solidarity as we unite to fight against it. Thousands of ribbons flooded in from around the world to adorn the Tree of Solidarity, now on display in Paris's 104 Centquatre arts space.

'The Standing March'

Yoan Valat / EPA / Via time.com

Images of more than 500 people were projected onto the facade of France’s National Assembly building in Paris to “remind leaders that the world is watching." This light up display is a collaborative effort of the French artist JR and the American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.

Climate Games inspire rebellion in every day life

Twitter/@JEBA_JE / Via wagingnonviolence.org

An activist makes moss graffiti in Paris with the slogan of the Climate Games. The Climate Games declared the world a creative direct action playground and encouraged activists to form teams and adopt a game-play mentality in protest.

Eiffel Tower grows roots

Photo by Chesnot / Getty Images / Via huffingtonpost.com

Even the Eiffel Tower is going green with the help of artist Naziha Mestaoui and One Heart One Tree. While on display from November 29th - December 3rd, virtual trees could be purchased and projected onto the tower along with a message of solidarity, symbolizing the real tree gifted to a reforestation project around the globe.

Reframing Climate Change through photojournalism

Disturb / Via dysturb.com

The collective Dysturb hung 25 large scale prints on buildings and walls throughout Paris of images depicting scenes that draw closer attention to the impacts of climate change. "By taking on public spaces with human scale pictures, #Dysturb cut out from traditional publishing avenues and offers a new visibility to photojournalism."

Canoe of life

Democracy Now / Via democracynow.org

An Indigenous group from Sarayaku, in the Ecuadorean Amazon canoed 6,000 Miles from the Amazon to Paris to call for climate action. The Kichwa people of Sarayaku have been fighting oil exploitation on their lands for many years.

Chilling reminder: Time is ticking

CHESNOT VIA GETTY IMAGES / Via huffingtonpost.com

Artist Olafur Eliasson arranged these 12 massive glacial ice blocks as an 'Ice Watch' - a not-so-subtly hint at the passing of time. Now, Parisians are having a hard time not-noticing the melt.

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Proving that people standing together in solidarity can truly send a message to the world.