More than 2,300 events spread across 175 countries took place this weekend prior to the Paris climate talks, which begin Monday. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets demanding world leaders take urgent action on climate change.

The Global Climate March—including marches, concerts, rallies, workshops, bike rides and film screenings—had one clear message: "Keep fossil fuels in the ground and finance a just transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050."

“The scale and diversity of today’s events are astounding," said May Boeve, executive director of 350.org. "Worldwide people are ready for the end of fossil fuels and the dawn of renewables. World leaders can no longer ignore this urgent call for action as the climate crisis continues to unfold. It is time for them to stand on the right side of history.”

Some of the highlights from events on Saturday included:

In Australia, one of the earliest marches, 60,000 people marched through the streets of Melbourne. There were also marches in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart and Perth.

In the Pacific Islands there were marches in Fiji and the Marshall Islands with gatherings Tuvalu and Papua New Guinea.

2,000 people ran through the streets of Cairo, Egypt to raise awareness on climate impacts and call for urgent climate action.

More than 15,000 people marched for climate justice in Quezon City and across parts of the Philippines.

Tokyo, Japan saw 1,000 people march demanding a just transition to 100 percent renewable energy.

5,000 people took to the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh and thousands more across the country.

Johannesburg, South Africa saw 500 people mobilize to demand an end of coal.

On Sunday, large events took place in London, New York, Sao Paolo, Mexico City, Sydney, Manila, Kyoto and Paris where climate activists formed a human chain along Boulevard Voltaire, one of Paris’ iconic avenues.