(VOVworld) - Masses of people joined a worldwide wave of marches on Saturday demanding leaders craft a pact to avert a climate catastrophe when they gather in Paris.

Thousands of people join climate change marches worldwide (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini )

From Australia to New Zealand, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Japan, people rallied at the start of a weekend of popular protests urging world powers to seal a deal at the UN climate summit that officially opens in Paris on Monday. Some 150 leaders, including US President Barack Obama, China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, will attend the start of the Paris conference. The goal is to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius or less over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by curbing fossil fuel emissions blamed for climate change.