Fridays for Future rallies draw thousands across Austria

Climate group Fridays for Future staged protests in seven Austrian cities on Friday, with about 10,000 people attending the Vienna rally by the organisers’ estimate, ORF reported. The demonstrations were intended to express what the group called the “anger built up over this summer of climate crisis.”

Alongside Vienna, protests were called in six other state capitals. No demonstrations took place in Lower Austria or Burgenland. In Linz, police estimated that around 350 people joined the march, which caused traffic interruptions. About 120 people attended a rally in Bregenz, where the local Fridays for Future group was also re-established.

In Salzburg, around 400 people joined a march, below the organisers’ advance estimate of 500 to 1,000. The protest also marked the re-establishment of the group’s local branch. In Vienna, the march began at Praterstern at 2.30 p.m. and was due to end with a rally at Maria-Theresien-Platz from 5 p.m.

Fridays for Future called for climate neutrality to be made binding in the Climate Act by 2040, a climate plan to be drawn up before the end of 2027, and a halt to all major fossil-fuel projects. The group said climate action was needed to address problems including overheated homes, hospitals and classrooms affected by heat, workers collapsing at construction sites and crops drying out in fields.

Environmental groups WWF and Greenpeace backed the calls. WWF said the government should protect people’s livelihoods, while Greenpeace called for a stronger shift to domestic renewable energy. Environmental group Global 2000 warned that data centres use large amounts of water and electricity, heat their surroundings and could slow the move away from oil and gas. It called for their construction to be stopped.