Greta Thunberg and several other members of the Extinction Rise up environmental group turned Venice’s Grand Canal brilliant inexperienced on Monday to protest what they view because the world’s sluggish progress in transitioning away from fossil fuels.
They dropped non-toxic fluorescein dye into the canal from boats, making it appear to be a radioactive, poisonous soup. The stunt was considered one of collection of protests at lakes, fountains, and waterways throughout 10 Italian cities within the wake of the current United Nations Local weather Change Convention (COP30) in Brazil. Thunberg and her fellow activists additionally unfurled a banner studying “Cease Ecocide” from Venice’s Rialto Bridge to focus on “the huge results of local weather collapse.”
Wearing pink with veiled faces, they carried devices and carried out a mock funeral procession meant to represent the failure of COP30 delegates to agree on binding limits on fossil fuels.
“Let’s symbolically paint inexperienced the waters of Italy, many contaminated each day by industries supported by our personal authorities, as a result of that is the world towards which present local weather insurance policies are dragging us,” mentioned an Extinction Rise up activist recognized as Selene in an announcement.
The Swedish activist and 35 different protestors have been banned from Venice for 48 hours because of this. They have been additionally fined $178 every by Venetian officers.
The USA didn’t attend the convention, and the European Union threatened to veto a weakened settlement earlier than finally signing a deal nonetheless criticized for missing adequate urgency on emissions cuts. “Let’s symbolically paint Italy’s waters inexperienced, waters contaminated each day by industries backed by our personal authorities, as a result of that is the long run present local weather insurance policies are steering us towards,” Selene mentioned.
Luca Zaia, the regional governor, advised The Unbiased that the stunt was “a disrespectful act towards our metropolis, its historical past, and its fragility.”
Venice, nonetheless, stays acutely susceptible to local weather impacts: rising seas and storm surges have elevated the frequency of “aqua alta” floods, and Piazza San Marco has been flooded roughly 250 instances per 12 months lately. Some specialists warn the town might be misplaced to the ocean by 2100.
