Greta Thunberg, the renowned environmental activist, has been barred from entering Venice after she and fellow Extinction Rebellion members poured green dye into the iconic Grand Canal.

The 22-year-old was fined €150 (approximately £130) and prohibited from entering the northeastern Italian city for 48 hours following a series of protests over the weekend.

A total of 35 other activists faced the same penalties.

The Extinction Rebellion protestors staged demonstrations at 10 locations across Italy, aligning their actions with the conclusion of the COP30 United Nations climate conference in Belém, Brazil. The conference ended without a consensus on eliminating fossil fuel use.

During the Venice protest, Thunberg joined activists as they released an environmentally safe dye into the Grand Canal, transforming the waterway’s color to green.

A banner that read ‘Stop Ecocide’ was hung up at the Rialto Bridge across 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.

Greta Thunberg was arrested by Dutch police at a protest in The Hague in April last year

She was partaking in a climate march against fossil subsidies near the highway A12

Protesters from Extinction Rebellion block the entrance to the A12 and Greta Thunberg is taken away by the police, July 2024

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg raises her fist upon arrival at the Athens International Airport on October 6, 2025

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg attends the weekly demonstration with Fridays for Future at the Mynttorget square next to the Swedish Parliament Riksdagen, in Stockholm, Sweden November 11, 2022

Police officers carry Thunberg away from the edge of the Garzweiler II opencast lignite mine during a protest action by climate activists after the clearance of Luetzerath, Germany, 2023

The climate activist was dragged away by Dutch police and arrested in April last year during a march on the A12 highway in The Hague.

She joined hundreds of protestors rallying against fossil fuel subsidies.

The march spiralled into tense standoffs between the demonstrators and the police, some on horseback, who attempted to stop protesters from blocking a main road.

Activists had planned to block The Hague’s A12 highway for what Extinction Rebellion (XR) organisers say was the 37th time. The major road has been subject to regular blockades for years.

She was photographed being dragged away by the police on the same road a few months later in July.

Footage showed Thunberg and others being sprayed with water after police deployed a cannon before removing the group of about 50 demonstrators at the busy junction.