Greta Thunberg causes a stir: Grand Canal in Venice lights up neon green!

Greta Thunberg causes a stir: Grand Canal in Venice lights up neon green!

In a spectacular appearance, Greta Thunberg and activists from the group “Extinction Rebellion” colored the famous “Grand Canal” in Venice neon green. This action took place on the weekend of the end of the UN climate conference COP30 in Belém, Brazil, and aimed to draw attention to the “massive consequences of climate collapse,” such as Image reports. Activists unfurled a banner with the message “Stop Ecocide” on the famous Rialto Bridge and staged a flash mob protest in flashy red robes. Thunberg wore a characteristic “Palestinian scarf”.

The unconventional protest action caused a lot of conversation not only on social media, but also among those present. While some tourists expressed understanding for the action and described it as "legitimate", Luca Zaia, the governor of the Veneto region, decried the action as a "disrespectful act" towards Venice. He also warned about possible environmental impacts of the material used, although activists assured that the paint used was environmentally friendly.

Activities in Italy and beyond

Extinction Rebellion announced that similar actions took place in a total of ten Italian cities, including Genoa, Padua, Turin, Bologna and Taranto. This type of protest is part of a broader strategy to draw attention to the urgency of the climate crisis that Thunberg and her colleagues have been pushing for years.

But that's not the only protest Thunberg has been involved in recently. In August 2025, around 200 climate activists, including Thunberg, blocked Norway's largest oil refinery in Mongstad. This protest aims to encourage the Norwegian government to phase out oil and gas and draw attention to the harmful effects of fossil fuels, as Le Monde reports.

Thunberg himself said during the blockade that there was “no future in oil” and that fossil fuels meant death and destruction. These statements make it clear that the young activist is tirelessly pushing the urgency of the climate action movement and ensuring that the voice of youth is heard in this important debate.

Worldwide reactions and the price of protest

The recent protests have also led to legal consequences for Thunberg. After the action in Venice, she was fined 150 euros and was not allowed to enter the city for 48 hours. Her arrest at an earlier protest in The Hague, where she demonstrated with other activists against fossil fuel subsidies, also attracted a lot of attention. Here she marched behind a banner reading “STOP FOSSIL SUBSIDIES,” showing her continued determination to fight the billion-dollar support for fossil fuels in Europe, BBC reports.

Thunberg's protest methods and the reactions to them show how complex and often controversial the issues surrounding climate change and the use of fossil fuels are today. Their incessant presence raises questions about how societies should respond to the pressing challenges of climate change and whether the methods chosen are appropriate to capture public attention.