An Environmental Protest Is Set to Cause Traffic Havoc in Melbourne's CBD Tonight

It might be bucketing down with rain in Melbourne, but grisly weather won't be the only thing flooding the city tonight. A planned climate change protest is expected to see thousands of environmental activists march through the CBD this evening, heading off at 5pm from the State Library of Victoria on Swanson Street.

According to The Age, as many as 10,000 protesters could be involved in the protest, which is being organised by environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion. The group says it "uses non-violent civil disobedience in an attempt to halt mass extinction" and raise awareness about the impacts of climate change.

Organisers have shared their protest plans in a public Facebook event, dubbed Swarm the City!, saying"when business as usual means climate catastrophe, then it's time to disrupt business as usual". The group is hoping the protest will encourage the government to declare a climate emergency and commit to full carbon neutrality by 2025.

Victoria Police have also taken to Facebook to alert Melburnians to the planned protest and the potential disruptions — which, on a rainy Friday at peak hour during AFL finals season, could be huge. "We're aware that there's protest activity planned for the CBD of Melbourne tonight," said North West Metro Commander Tim Hansen in a video posted to the page. "We think it's really important that [...] you make plans to get out of the city as quickly as you can before this time so you're not caught up in the disruption."

This local Extinction Rebellion protest follows several held in Brisbane earlier this year, where protesters glued themselves to the road and marched through the CBD during peak hour.

The Extinction Rebellion Protest is expected to run from 5–7pm. For further public transport and traffic updates, check Yarra Trams and Vic Traffic.

Top image: Extinction Rebellion Brisbane protest