Greta Thunberg banned from Venice after 'disrespectful' act to city's historic canal

Climate activist Greta Thunberg now faces a ban from Venice after a significant protest stunt over the weekend.

Thunberg is regularly making headlines for her speeches and stunts that attempt to shed light the importance of governments addressing climate change. Over the weekend, Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion activists attempted to get people’s attention in a major stunt across Italy.

In what looks like a scene from Chicago on St Patrick’s day, many of the rivers and canals of the city were dyed green.

Thunberg, who was spotted protesting with the group on Saturday, was fined €150 (roughly $173, or £132) for the stunt and banned from the city for 48 hours. Thirty-five other activists received the same punishment.

In protests videos they have shared on social media, the group defended their actions and said they used an environmentally harmless dye in hopes of drawing attention to the impacts of climate collapse.

The group also criticised the Italian government, led by prime minister Giorgia Meloni, for opposing ambitious climate measures at Cop30.

In a post on Instagram, the Italian branch of Extinction Rebellion complained about some protestors being detained and explained the scope of their protest.

The post read: “On the morning of Saturday 22 November, with XR Udine, XR Trieste and XR Gorizia we dyed the waters of the Grande Canal (Trieste), together with the waters of 10 other Italian cities, to show the ecocide in progress.

“We’ve used fluorescein — a non-toxic, biodegradable compound.

“Eight people were detained for several hours for an identification certificate despite having immediately handed over the documents at the request of the police and were released with several complaints.

“With the slogan 'Stop the Ecocide', we denounce the ecocidal policies of the Italian Government and call the attention of all people to the devastating effects of the climate collapse.

“Ecocide is the depredation of ecosystems for economic exploitation, the destruction of natural resources brought about by wars and the inertia of governments in addressing climate change.”

The governor of the Veneto region Luca Zaia criticized the move by the climate change group, however. He argued the move was ‘a disrespectful act towards our city, its history and its fragility’.

“It’s a gesture that risks having consequences for the environment”, he added.

Despite this reaction, some people on social media have praised the group for taking a stand and hope stunts like this will push governments to take significant action.