Venice’s Grand Canal was dyed green by climate activists in a move to highlight the impacts of climate change, following countries’ failure to agree on phasing out fossil fuels, at COP30.
Extinction Rebellion activists said an environmentally harmless dye was released into 10 Italian cities’ waterways, lakes and fountains to emphasise ‘the massive effects of climate collapse’.
Greta Thunberg was among protesters at ‘Stop Ecocide’ in Venice where demonstrators wore full red with veils covering their faces while slowly walking through crowds of tourists.
Turin’s Po River, Reno River in Bologna, Taranto’s Tara River and fountains in Padova and Genoa were also dyed green.
Talks at UN COP30 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 Belem 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.
Venice’s Grand Canal after being dyed green by Extinction Rebellion. It was one of 10 Italian cities targeted
An Extinction Rebellion activist pouring an environmentally harmless dye into Venice’s Grand Canal, turning it green
Demonstrators wore full red with veils while slowly walking through crowds of tourists
Dozens of Extinction Rebellion protestors take to Rialto Bridge while overlooking a dyed Grand Canal
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.
Today’s stunt by Extinction Rebellion follows one of their climate activists bringing a decades-long tradition to a standstill in Norway yesterday.
During a tree-chopping ceremony where officials in Oslo send a tree to Trafalgar Square, London, every year since 1947 to thank Britain for its support during the Second World War, when Norway fell under occupation by Nazi Germany.
The protestor sat 65ft high in the branches of a Spruce Tree, and the stunt was to demonstrate against the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea.
The activist was returned to the ground by 9.30am UK time after police arrived at the scene.
GRETA’S BACKGROUND
Greta Thunberg taking part in the “Stop Ecocide” demonstration organized by Extinction Rebellion in Venice
Greta Thunberg in September 2025 on the Global Sumud Flotilla that was on its way to Gaza
Greta Thunberg became a familiar face in 2018 when she started the first School Strike for Climate outside Sweden’s parliament at 15 years old.
The protest sparked hundreds of thousands of youth across the world to join her in Friday for Future strikes.
She left school for a year between 2019 and 2020 to focus on activism, which had led to many impassioned speeches to world leaders.
In 2019, she was the youngest ever person to receive Time Person of the Year, the Right Livelihood Award (known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) and Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award, and included in Forbes list of world’s 100 most powerful women.
Ms Thunberg recently joined 436 other activists, parliamentarians and lawyers from around the world who attempted to travel to Gaza by flotilla to deliver aid.
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.
Ms Thunberg, who originally said she did not want to draw attention away from the suffering of Palestinians by complaining about her prison conditions, claimed she was beaten and abused by Israeli guards.
