Climate activist Greta Thunberg, along with 35 other members of the Extinction Rebellion group, were issued a temporary ban from Venice on Sunday after they dyed the Grand Canal green in protest.
The pouring of the green dye and other stunts performed by the environmental activists were in retaliation to Italy’s opposition to including fossil fuel restrictions in a deal agreed to at the COP30 summit on Friday in Brazil. The actions landed the organizer a 48-hour ban from the city and a $172 fine.
The activist group said it additionally released the green dye into canals, rivers, lakes, and fountains across 10 Italian cities in an attempt to highlight “the massive effects of climate collapse.”
In addition to the dye, other stunts performed by the climate campaigners included hanging a banner that read “Stop Ecocide” from the Rialto Bridge, which spans across the Grand Canal.
The group followed the pouring of the green dye in the Grand Canal with a flash mob protest, in which the activists strolled through crowds of tourists while dressed in red.
Italian officials justified the repercussions, referring to it as a reprehensible act.
It was a “disrespectful act towards our city, its history and its fragility,” Veneto Province Governor Luca Zaia said. “It’s a gesture that risks having consequences for the environment.”
“I am even more surprised to see Greta Thunberg among the authors of this useless protest, who clearly aim – more than raising awareness about the environment – to give visibility to themselves,” he added.
The group said the dye it used was environmentally harmless.
During the climate summit, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva put forth a road map that would have steered clear of fossil fuels. However, the fossil fuel plan was absent from the climate deal reached during the summit.
“I am saying it with a heavy heart, but what is now on the table is clearly no deal,” European Union Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told reporters.
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In the end, the COP30 leaders agreed to a deal that did not mention fossil fuels but did increase funding for poor countries to adapt to a warming climate.
Thunberg’s activism in Italy follows her detainment last month in Israel, where she took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which attempted to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza.
