The demonstration in the Tarn region against the proposed A69 motorway drew in 8,200 protesters according to organisers; 4,500 according to the local authority.
They marched under intermittent rain along the route of the proposed highway which would link the southern cities of Toulouse and Castres, carrying placards that read "Less energy, fewer cars and less tarmac" and other green messages.
Julien Bayou, a lawmaker from the Europe Ecology Greens party (EELV), said the planned highway was "anachronistic".
Sandrine Rousseau, another Greens MP, said the project dated back to the 1990s when the thinking was that one could only travel by cars and on highways.
"There is really no need of another motorway," she said.
Others said the 53-kilometre (30-mile) highway would lead to a loss of farm land and endanger biodiversity.
Last month, protests against planned water storage facilities in another southern region led to clashes between demonstrators and police in which three people were seriously wounded.
Campaigners in Sainte-Soline were trying to stop the construction of giant water "basins" to irrigate crops, which they say will distort access to water amid drought conditions.
The water reserve is the second of 16 such installations, part of a project developed by a group of 400 farmers to significantly reduce mains water usage in summer.
Thousands greet climate activists after Swiss march
Geneva, Switzerland (AFP) April 22, 2023 -
Several thousand people crowded a Bern square Saturday to welcome four climate activists as they completed a 224-kilometre (140-mile) march across Switzerland to demand more ambitious climate action.
The four women -- university professor Julia Steinberger, lawyer Irene Wettstein, infectiologist Valerie d'Acremont and political scientist Bastienne Joerchel -- had set off from Geneva on their "Marche Bleu", or "Blue March", on April 1.
The purpose of the march, which saw them make stops in a number of Swiss towns and cities, was to call on Switzerland to do more to adhere to the 2015 Paris Agreement.
In an online petition, they are demanding that the wealthy Alpine country "make it an absolute priority to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by half before 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050".
Dozens and sometimes hundreds of mostly women accompanied them on the different legs of their march, with around 150 people walking with them during the last part of the journey Saturday, the ATS news agency reported.
Nearly 4,000 people showed up to welcome them to Bern and to rally in the square in front of the Swiss government and parliament buildings, the news agency said.
"Our political demands are urgent," Steinberger told the RTS broadcaster, lamenting that "Switzerland is very, very far behind, and has even gone backwards" on lists of how well countries are adhering to the Paris climate agreement.
"Climate action is everyone's business."
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