The group has been active in Austria since 2022, staging numerous direct action protests such as blocking roads, confronting politicians and gluing themselves to streets.
Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer welcomed Last Generation’s decision shortly after the announcement. “It’s good that this nonsense is over,” he wrote in a post on X.
Last year, the chancellor described the group’s protests as “extremist,” comparing them with far-right movements.
Austria — like almost all other European Union countries — is lagging behind in hitting its climate targets. Vienna is has yet to submit a draft of its so-called National Energy and Climate Plan, a core document for officials to show how they’re going to hit their share of the bloc’s emissions-cutting target for 2030, leaving it subject to an “infringement procedure” from the Commission.
While the decision to stop the protests makes it “infinitely sad,” the group expressed hope for new opportunities to emerge. It said that its resistance will continue — but did not clarify in which forms.
In recent years, climate activists across Europe have been subject to increased governmental crackdowns in the form of bans, jail time and fines. Some of their members are still facing high fines and legal costs as a result of protest actions, Last Generation said its statement.