Venice Boots Greta Thunberg After Iconic Canal Turns Neon Green

Greta Thunberg has been slapped with a 48-hour ban from Venice and fined $175 after she and nearly three dozen other Extinction Rebellion activists dyed the city's Grand Canal bright green. The protest, timed to sync with the end of the COP30 United Nations climate conference in Brazil, was meant to highlight what activists called the "massive effects of climate collapse," per the Independent. The group says the dye was environmentally safe, but regional leader Luca Zaia slammed the stunt as "disrespectful" to Venice's history and warned it could harm the fragile city.

"Vandalism doesn't protect the environment," he wrote in Italian on Instagram, per ABC News. Tourists, however, seemed to side with the activists, with some calling the protest legitimate and saying it underscored world leaders' failure to address climate change. Extinction Rebellion reported similar demonstrations in 10 Italian cities, including the coloring of fountains in Genoa and Padua, and rivers in Turin, Bologna, and Taranto. The group criticized Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government for being against strong climate measures at COP30.