Greta Thunberg and several members of the Extinction Rebellion environmental group turned Venice’s Grand Canal bright green on Monday to protest what they view as the world’s slow progress in transitioning away from fossil fuels.
They dropped non-toxic fluorescein dye into the canal from boats, making it look like a radioactive, toxic soup. The stunt was one of series of protests at lakes, fountains, and waterways across 10 Italian cities in the wake of the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil. Thunberg and her fellow activists also unfurled a banner reading “Stop Ecocide” from Venice’s Rialto Bridge to highlight “the massive effects of climate collapse.”
Dressed in red with veiled faces, they carried instruments and performed a mock funeral procession meant to symbolize the failure of COP30 delegates to agree on binding limits on fossil fuels.
“Let’s symbolically paint green the waters of Italy, many contaminated daily by industries supported by our own government, because this is the world toward which current climate policies are dragging us,” said an Extinction Rebellion activist identified as Selene in a statement.
The Swedish activist and 35 other protestors were banned from Venice for 48 hours as a result. They were also fined $178 each by Venetian officials.
The United States did not attend the conference, and the European Union threatened to veto a weakened agreement before ultimately signing a deal still criticized for lacking sufficient urgency on emissions cuts. “Let’s symbolically paint Italy’s waters green, waters contaminated daily by industries backed by our own government, because this is the future current climate policies are steering us toward,” Selene said.
Luca Zaia, the regional governor, told The Independent that the stunt was “a disrespectful act toward our city, its history, and its fragility.”
Venice, however, remains acutely vulnerable to climate impacts: rising seas and storm surges have increased the frequency of “aqua alta” floods, and Piazza San Marco has been flooded roughly 250 times per year in recent years. Some experts warn the city could be lost to the sea by 2100.
