Austria's Interior Ministry recorded 230 criminal charges for members of the group in 2023, with the activists repeatedly blocking roads and causing disruption.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Austrian branch of the climate action group, Last Generation, have disbanded in the country after saying they no longer see any prospect of success from their action.
Last Generation announced on Tuesday in a letter addressed to "society" that they would be ending their protests, saying that Austria wished to "remain in fossil ignorance".
"The problem of failure is rather that not enough people dared, didn't have the courage to really stand up peacefully against the government and rebel against it" Anja Windl, an activist for Last Generation, said.
The group said that resistance would continue without specifying how they planned to carry forward their mission.
Last Generation had several tactics, but mostly relied on disruptive forms of action. The group are known for blocking traffic by gluing themselves to busy roads and airport tarmacs.
In 2023 Austria's Interior Ministry recorded 378 rallies and over 1,060 arrests, with 230 criminal charges.
Currently several members of the group are being investigated by the Austrian public prosecutor's office for allegedly damaging public property and forming a criminal organisation.
Members of the group famously attempted to pour paint over Gustav Klimt's paining "Death and Life" in the Leopold Museum in Vienna.
Jakob-Moritz Eberl, a communications expert, says that these disruptive forms of action were often negatively perceived by the general public.
He acknowledged that the group's aim was often to draw attention to themselves however their stunts rarely translated into political action.
Last Generation was formed in 2021 and is primarily active in Germany, Italy and Poland.
