Eco-activists painted the water in Venice green

Environmental activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement painted the water in the canals of Venice green. Similar actions were held in several other Italian cities, including Rome, Milan and Turin. Thus, eco-activists protested against the course of the COP28 climate conference, which is currently taking place in Dubai. They believe that the agreements discussed there are insufficient, and the conference itself is corrupt.

Extinction Rebellion participants poured industrial chemical dyes into the water. They specified that dyes are harmless and will not harm the environment. In addition, they hung a poster on the Rialto Bridge in Venice with the inscription “COP28: while governments agree, we are hanging on by a thread.”

Due to the incident, the movement of water transport along the Grand Canal of Venice was temporarily stopped. The recently restored Rialto Bridge will also be inspected by experts to assess the damage caused to it. The mayor of the city, Luigi Brugnaro, condemned the action, calling its authors “eco-vandals, not eco-activists.” He declared that he would seek their punishment.

• The Extinction Rebellion movement advocates protection of the Earth’s climate, rejection of fossil fuels and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. It is known for its outrageous actions. For example, ego participants glue themselves to highways, airport runways, and to paintings in major museums to draw attention to climate issues.
• The climate summit COP28 takes place under the auspices of the United Nations in Dubai from November 30 to December 12. Representatives of 134 countries take part in it. The participants of Extinction Rebellion accuse the summit of corruption, since many of the participating countries, including the UAE, receive income from the extraction of fossil energy carriers and, according to the activists, are not interested in completely renouncing them.