(CNN) World leaders arrived in Paris on Sunday for potentially historic climate talks that will play out amid security concerns driven by the November 13 terror attacks in France .

Frustrations over restrictions on protests put in place following the attacks gave rise to what French President Francois Hollande called "scandalous" scuffles between protesters and police at the Place de Republique, the site of a memorial to victims.

French authorities have clamped down on public demonstrations in the aftermath of the deadly attacks , blocking environmental campaigners' plans for a big march on Sunday.

Police arrested more than 200 people Sunday following flare-ups in which protesters pelted police with shoes, bottles and even candles police said were taken from memorials.

Riot police responded with tear gas.

Hollande said authorities knew "troubling elements" would arrive in Paris for the talks, and said that was why "these sorts of assemblies were banned and some were ordered to stay home."

Activists laid out shoes where demonstrators might have stood.

Paris Police Chief Michel Cadot said taking the candles and using them against police showed "an extreme lack of respect to those events."

Despite those tensions, demonstrators were largely peaceful ahead of the crucial climate change session. In place of the big march, protesters lined up thousands of shoes representing climate change activists.

The talks will begin in earnest on Monday. Nearly 150 world leaders are expected attend the United Nations climate change summit, called with the aim of reaching a landmark global deal on limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

The leaders of the United States, China and India -- the world's top three carbon-emitting countries -- are among those scheduled to attend the opening day of the event, known as COP21.

Obama to meet Chinese President

Photos: Climate change is real Photos: Climate change is real A single summer stole more than 200 feet (60 meters) of ice from the snout of Sólheimajökull, a glacier in Iceland, seen in April 2006. Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real What a difference a few months made for Sólheimajökull, seen from the same vantage in October 2006. The glacier has withdrawn a third of a mile (0.5 kilometer) over the past decade, in step with rising temperatures. Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real Years ago, says a veteran skier, "conditions were fantastic" at the world's highest ski area, on 17,250-foot (5,260 meters) Chacaltaya Glacier near La Paz, Bolivia. Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real Today, few attempt the ski run down Bolivia's Chacaltaya Glacier, even after a snowfall. The glacier has shriveled in the past decade, turning much of the slope into a boulder field. Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real As icons such as Montana's once well-formed Grinnell Glacier vanish, "people feel a sense of loss," says Dan Fagre of the USGS. Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real Montana's Grinnell Glacier, a robust body of ice decades ago, is melting. Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real Mount Everest's East Rongbuk Glacier lost some 350 vertical feet of ice between August 1921 (above) and October 2008 (next). Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real Mount Everest's East Rongbuk Glacier lost some 350 vertical feet of ice between August 1921 (previous) and October 2008 (above). Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real Columbia Glacier in Alaska has retreated 11 miles since 1980. Since then, it has diminished vertically an amount equal to the height of New York's Empire State Building. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real Columbia Glacier in 2012. Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: Climate change is real The November 2015 issue of National Geographic magazine. Hide Caption 11 of 11

French President Francois Hollande was to meet with several world leaders Sunday ahead of the start of the two-week conference, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Ban's office released a statement praising Hollande and France for going ahead with the meeting despite the attack. He said he and the French President had agreed that "failure to reach an agreement was not an option and would have disastrous consequences."

U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Paris late Sunday and is expected to meet with Xi the following morning.

"Clearly, U.S. cooperation with China is absolutely essential to successful efforts to combat climate change," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said in a briefing last week . "I think the two leaders meeting at the beginning of this process, as the two largest emitters, sends a strong message to the world about their shared commitment to combat climate change and to achieve an ambitious agreement."

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