Activists had the last word at COP21, creatively and powerfully making a far from final stand for people and planet over profit. The agreement reached at the COP21 UN climate summit was predictably weak. But the show of activist force was surprisingly strong – causing the French government to lift its protest ban, allowing for more than 14,000 people to gather in central Paris for the "Red Lines" protest at the summit's conclusion.

Signifying the hard lines we cannot pass if we want to stay below a global temperature rise of 1.5°C (which the aforementioned agreement will pass), activists showed up with red umbrellas, banners stretching hundreds of feet, huge inflatables, instruments, flowers and no shortage of costumes. Earlier that morning, activists gathered in smaller groups of 50 to 100, combining digital and physical activism to literally write a message in the streets of Paris: CLIMATE JUSTICE PEACE. Using the geo-location on their phones, activists met at specific points all over the city to "check-in" to their letter, and that letter's theme. We went to the P in PEACE, themed People Power.

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