“Rebellion against inaction”
Activists color the Grand Canal in Venice
December 10, 2023, 2:39 a.m
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A few months ago, climate activists colored the water in the Trevi Fountain in Italy to advocate for their causes. Now it hits another tourist magnet that also has a lot more water. Some tourists are then allowed to sail along one of Venice’s green main waterways.
Environmental activists from the group Extinction Rebellion have dumped dye into Venice’s Grand Canal and several Italian rivers to protest the “failure” of ongoing international climate negotiations. The activists poured a green fluorescent liquid into the Grand Canal. At the same time, hanging from ropes and straps, they unfurled a banner reading “COP28: While the government talks, we are hanging by a thread” from the Rialto Bridge.
The group Extinction Rebellion Italy said via X that it had used a “harmless” dye. “The climate crisis is already having a catastrophic impact on Italy, science tells us it will get worse and politicians are wasting their time on a farce,” said the activists at the UN climate conference currently taking place in Dubai. “We rebel against this inaction, we cannot remain silent while our future is sold to the fossil fuel industries!”
Also green spots in the Tiber and the Po
Similar actions took place in the Tiber in Rome, in a canal in Milan and in the Po in Turin, according to images published on online services. In May, environmental activists painted the basin of Rome’s famous Trevi Fountain black after devastating floods in northeastern Italy that they said represented a “warning” about climate change.
The 28th World Climate Conference is currently taking place in the United Arab Emirates. There is currently a debate about a global move away from fossil fuels such as oil and gas. COP 28 is scheduled to last until Tuesday.