Four Greenpeace activists climbed atop an 80-meter-high crane outside Notre Dame on Thursday to affix a banner that read: "Climate: Take Action!"
The dramatic step by the group was taken to denounce President Emmanuel Macron's inaction on climate change in the country.
Greenpeace activists hung a banner reading ‘Climate: Time to Act!’ from a crane towering over Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris pic.twitter.com/1L9F3r4a2I
— Shakthi Vadakkepat (@v_shakthi) July 9, 2020
Another activist hung off the boom of the crane and held a banner declaring: "Climate, Macron, Notre-Drama."
Notre Dame Cathedral is currently a construction site as repair work is being performed on the iconic house of worship. Last April, an inferno almost engulfed the 12th century church and French landmark. The blaze -- whose cause is still unknown -- started in the rafters and consumed the roof until almost 400 firefighters doused it just over four hours later.
Greenpeace Director General Jean-Francois Julliard picked the giant crane outside the cathedral, knowing it was a place that the group's communique would not be missed.
"We chose Notre-Dame-de-Paris because it is an emblematic monument of Paris, emblematic of France. This is an opportunity to send a strong message to all French people and even across borders because everyone knows this monument," he said.
"We hear a lot Emmanuel Macron announcing and promising, but in the acts, reality does not follow," he declared.
A further statement posted on Greenpeace's Twitter feed Thursday read, "Activists have a message for E. Macron: 'We went up very high to shout very loud that blah, hypocrisy, lies on the climate, that's enough! Action, now!!!'"
This article has been adapted from its original source.
