WITH . – 03/25/2022 19:00 (act. 03/25/2022 19:00)
The climate demo prepared by Fridays For Future has grown in Vienna. © APA / HANS KLAUS TECHT (symbol photo)
An atmospheric demo Fridays For Future took place in Vienna on Friday. Something was happening in other parts of Austria as well.
Today, Friday, the Austrian Fridays For Future movements have already committed the tenth edition of the climate strike. In Vienna, the action started at 1.30 pm at the Stubentor station, from where the demonstration train set off towards Praterstern for the final rally in Venice Au. According to the organizer, 10,000 participants took part. Other federal states, with the exception of Burgenland, also took to the streets for climate, Ukraine and social justice purposes.
The Fridays For Future climate demo has started in Vienna at Stubentor
This time, activists from Fridays For Future (FFF) demonstrated not only adherence to the 1.5 degree target, but also solidarity with Ukraine. “We can no longer ignore the fact that the aggressive war in Ukraine is financed by oil and gas imports into the EU. Our dependence on Putin’s fossil fuels must end today. We owe it to the people of Ukraine, “says Marlene Seidel. Climate activist in Vienna. The FFF also criticized the government’s aid package which demonstrated a “still retroactive” turquoise-green climate policy: “EUR 400 million will be spent on socially unfair and climate-damaging benefits for commuters, while public transport will only be subsidized with an additional EUR 150 million.” euro”.
Pictures from the demonstration in Vienna
Today there were also demonstrations on the subject, which began at 10.30 am in the far west: in Bregenz, around 300 people, mostly young people, marched with slogans such as “Climate protection up, heat down” and “Climate justice now” city center to Vorarlberger Landhaus Politicians are being asked to finally deliver on the climate promises made in Paris 2015 and Glasgow 2021. Things have changed since the last global climate strike, but have not changed fundamentally.The 1.5 degree target is still a long way off, said Johannes Hartmann with “Fridays for Future Vorarlberg” at the next rally with speeches and music.
Climate demo in Innsbruck
In the Tyrolean capital of Innsbruck, shortly after 1 p.m., the police counted around 850 demonstrators gathered in the market square. “Climate protection is a policy of peace,” a large banner proclaimed there. But the writing also demanded “fuck each other, not the planet.” At around 1.30pm the demonstration train finally started. Three speakers previously pointed out that today it is also about the Ukrainian nation. It was written that the war was also a “fossil war”.
In Salzburg 1,000 participants were registered, according to the police, some 800 arrived and gathered at 3pm in front of the main train station. Following the banner with the slogan “People do not gain”, we headed towards the city center, and the participants chanted slogans such as “What do we want?” Climate justice “, some also expressed their anger at the extension of the garage in Mönchsberg. The banners read” More parking spaces = more traffic “. The final rally is scheduled for 17:00 at Residenzplatz in the old town with a staged program.
The climate demo in Graz – Fridays For Future has 1,500 participants
In Graz, the speakers referred to the war in Ukraine: “We are angry that wars are caused by power – just like now in Ukraine.” Demands were made to stop imports of oil and gas from Russia. It was also criticized that the war destroyed infrastructure, which will require a lot of resources and energy to rebuild. “We need more clean energies” and “tax havens must be eliminated.” “There’s a lot to be done, we don’t have time to war.” According to the police, the signs of about 1,200 demonstrators, 1,500 according to the FFF, were, inter alia, … In the middle of the demonstration there was an elementary school class marching in twos and singing in the choir: “We are here, we are loud because they are stealing our future.”
Also in Carinthia there was a strike under the slogan #PeopleNotProfit. In the early afternoon, nearly 70 participants gathered at Alter Platz in Klagenfurt to oppose “a system that puts profit above people”. With slogans like “The climate crisis is stupid, CO2 is to be taxed” or “There is no future on a dead planet,” they marched through the city center in front of the state government where speeches were held. Four Corona demonstrators were also mixed with the participants, screened by the police, but otherwise left intact. “Fridays for Future” has no place for crown-deniers, explained the climate activist and was applauded for it. The demonstration was completed in less than two hours.
An atmospheric day in Villach
Also in Villach, people took to the streets on Friday. An atmospheric day took place on the town hall square. Students, the Villach Youth Council and the Carinthian Climate Alliance invited to a peaceful meeting “Against the War for the Future”. Various artists from Carinthia and Ukraine also performed. “Times are now very difficult emotionally for the younger generation. Thanks to this meeting, we give them space and listen, because climate policy is also a peace policy, “says Mayor Günther Albel (SPÖ) from above.
Fridays For Future: 2,500 participants in Linz
The posters of the Linz demonstrators featured the slogans “The climate is changing, why not us?”, “We can’t breathe money, we can’t drink oil” or regional topics such as “Linz needs a second railway axis” to read. Finally, it was said: ” We were here, we were loud because you are stealing our future “before after about two and a half hours the afternoon ended with live music in the main square. Support came from Green Energy spokeswoman Ulrike Schwarz:” Many renewable projects are in drawers. Let’s finally create the conditions to their implementation. Let’s invest money there, in climate protection, and not in the money of despots, “she demanded.
Fridays For Future movements went on strike in St. Pölten
In Lower Austria, FFF movements went on a second strike on Friday in St. Pölten. According to the organizers, about 2,000 participants were counted, according to the police about 500. The demonstration train, supported by drummers and others, departed just before 1pm from the main station towards the government district. After an intermediate stop with speeches and a beatboxer performance at the Landhaus, the rally at Rathausplatz ended with more musical performances and speakers.
There have been climate strikes around the world since 2019, the movement’s initiator, Greta Thunberg, Sweden, was in her native country today. Several people took to the streets of Stockholm along with a leading activist. Sam Thunberg in the afternoon spoke of thousands of participants on Twitter. Initially, there were no official figures, but around 5,000 demonstrators were expected, according to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.