Greta Thunberg fined after climate activists dye Venice Grand Canal green

Extinction Rebellion stage ‘Stop Ecocide’ protests in cities across Italy.

Greta Thunberg was among dozens of climate activists fined in Italy after the Grand Canal in Venice was dyed a vivid green on Saturday in a ‘Stop Ecocide’ protest.

Thunberg and 36 other activists linked to the Extinction Rebellion group were each handed fines of €150 and ordered by police to stay away from Venice for 48 hours.

34 of the protesters fined were Italian and three were foreign: in addition to Sweden’s Thunberg, there was one activist from Colombia and one from Ethiopia, according to VeneziaToday.

The eco-activists, who held a similar protest in Venice in 2023, said they released an environmentally harmless dye into the Grand Canal — as well as in rivers, canals and fountains in other Italian cities including Bologna, Genoa, Milan, Padua, Palermo, Parma, Trieste, Turin and Taranto — to highlight the “massive effects of climate collapse”.

Luca Zaia, the outgoing governor of the Veneto region, condemned the Venice blitz, writing on social media that he was “astonished to see Greta Thunberg among the perpetrators of this pointless protest, which evidently aims—rather than raising environmental awareness—to give themselves visibility”.

Activists said the protest was timed to coincide with the final days of the UN climate conference COP30 being held in Brazil, where delegates were struggling to agree to a commitment to phase out fossil fuels.

Police in Rome foiled an attempt by Extinction Rebellion activists to dye the waters of the lake in the EUR district.

Photo Vigili del Fuoco