Greta Thunberg has been barred from Venice following an incident where she, along with Extinction Rebellion activists, poured green dye into the Grand Canal as part of a protest.
The 22-year-old environmental activist received a €150 (£130) fine and was prohibited from entering the northeastern Italian city for 48 hours, following a series of demonstrations over the weekend.
In total, 35 other protestors faced the same penalties.
The activists from Extinction Rebellion organized protests at 10 different locations across Italy to align with the conclusion of the Cop30 United Nations climate conference in Belém, Brazil, which ended without a consensus on eliminating fossil fuels.
During the Venice protest, Thunberg joined in as activists released an eco-friendly dye into the city’s main waterway, turning it a vivid green.
A banner proclaiming ‘Stop Ecocide’ was prominently displayed on the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal.
The campaigners also staged a flash-mob protest in which activists, dressed in red with veils concealing their faces, walked slowly through groups of tourists.
Luca Zaia, the governor of Veneto, condemned the stunt as ‘a disrespectful gesture for our city, its history, and its fragility’.
‘I am even more surprised to see Greta Thunberg among the authors of this useless protest, who clearly aim – more than raising awareness about the environment – to give visibility to themselves,’ he added.
Greta Thunberg has been banned from Venice after dumping green dye in the Grand Canal in a stunt alongside Extinction Rebellion activists
People enjoy a gondola ride on the Grand Canal, where the canal’s water has been dyed green in a protest organised by the ‘Extinction Rebellion’ climate activists, in Venice, Italy, November 22, 2025
As well as Thunberg, some 35 other activists were handed the same fine and ban
Extinction Rebellion activists also targetted rivers, canals and fountains in other Italian cities including Bologna, Genoa, Milan, Padua, Palermo, Parma, Trieste, Turin and Taranto, to raise awareness about the ‘massive effects of climate collapse’.
The organisation accused Italy of being one of the countries that went to the greatest lengths to prevent the most ambitious proposals put forward at the Cop30 talks from going through.
Talks in Brazil had gone into overtime on Saturday while delegates fought over whether to mention fossil fuels in the final text.
One issue at the Belém talks was securing a deal that helps cut emissions faster to prevent them from driving more extreme weather.
Extinction Rebellion activist Paola said: ‘The most important global summit to define international political agreements aimed at countering climate and social collapse is drawing to a close, and once again this year, has been among the countries blocking the most ambitious proposals.’
The EU had pushed for a deal that would call for a ‘roadmap’ to phase out fossil fuels, but the words do not appear in the text after opposition from oil-producing countries, including top exporter Saudi Arabia.
Now the deal calls on countries to ‘voluntarily’ accelerate their climate action and recalls the consensus reached at COP28 in Dubai.
More than 30 countries including European nations, emerging economies and small island states, had signed a letter warning Brazil they would reject any deal without a plan to move away from oil, gas and coal.
But the EU, which had warned that the summit could end without a deal if fossil fuels were not addressed, accepted the watered-down language.
An activist pouring a colouring agent in the dyed green waters of the Grand Canal in Venice during the ‘Stop Ecocide’ demonstration organised by Extinction Rebellion
The 22-year-old climate campaigner was issued with a €150 (£130) fine and a 48-hour restriction on entering the northeastern Italian city after multiple protests over the weekend
Protestors from Extinction Rebellion targeted 10 sites around Italy to coincide with the end of the Cop30 United Nations climate conference in Belém, Brazil
Swedish environment activist Greta Thunberg taking part in the ‘Stop Ecocide’ demonstration organised by Extinction Rebellion
The Swedish climate activist alleged that she and other detainees of the Gaza flotilla were subjected to torture in the Israeli prison where they were held after their boats were intercepted by the IDF.
Thunberg was taking part in an attempt by the Global Sumud Flotilla to deliver humanitarian aid to the war-torn Strip.
She said that she was ‘kidnapped and tortured’ by the Israeli military, adding that they didn’t get clean water and that other detainees were deprived of critical medication.
She was detained for five days at Ketziot prison in the Negev desert, usually used to hold Palestinian security prisoners accused of involvement in terrorist activities, before being deported to Greece on October 6.
She described being held in bug infested cells where she received little water and was mocked by guards and military officers who took selfies with her – later drawing a penis and writing ‘whore’ on her suitcase.
She also described being beaten and having her hands tied with cables.
She originally said she did not want to complain about her prison conditions, drawing attention away from the suffering of Palestinian
‘Personally, I don’t want to share what I was subjected to because I don’t want it to make headlines and “Greta has been tortured”, because that’s not the story here,’ she said, adding that what they were subjected to paled in comparison to what people in Gaza experienced daily.
Israel’s foreign ministry has repeatedly denied mistreating the detainees.
