On November 22–23, 2025, the environmental group Extinction Rebellion, joined by Greta Thunberg, turned the city’s famed Grand Canal a bright, unnatural green. The dye — described by organizers as a non-toxic tracer used in environmental studies — flowed into the canal near the iconic Rialto Bridge, where a banner reading “Stop Ecocide” hung as a mournful flag for a planet in peril.
With that bold gesture, the protesters sought to draw attention to what they call the “massive effects of climate collapse” — and to criticize recent global negotiations that, in their view, failed to commit to meaningful fossil-fuel reductions at the COP30 summit in Brazil.
The visual impact was immediate: green water reflecting centuries-old palaces, gondolas drifting through alien hues, and stunned crowds caught between beauty and outrage. Across Italy, similar demonstrations unfolded in cities such as Genoa, Bologna, Padua, Turin, Taranto — with rivers, fountains, and canals turned the same shade of protest.
Local authorities in the region of Veneto responded swiftly. The activists — including Thunberg — were handed a temporary ban from entering Venice for 48 hours and fined roughly €150 (some reports citing about $172) each. The regional governor criticized the action as disrespectful to a fragile city steeped in history, warning that such stunts risk harming both heritage and the environment itself.
Supporters of the protest argue that, by making the usually quiet waters so dramatically visible, the stunt cast a harsh light on the urgency of climate change — especially for cities like Venice, perched vulnerably at sea level, threatened by rising tides and changing climates. Critics, however, decried the move as disruptive, performative, and potentially damaging — a clash between activism and respect for living heritage.
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