Activists poured charcoal into the waters of Rome's most famous fountain, calling for action against climate change. Rome's mayor condemned the "absurd attacks."
Climate activists in Italy blackened on Sunday Rome's famed Trevi Fountain (also known as Fontana Di Trevi) with charcoal, calling for an immediate halt to public subsidies to fossil fuels. They said the climate crisis is the reason for the latest flash floods in the country.
The floods in the region of Emilia-Romagna in the northeast of Italy have thus far killed 14 people, devastating much of the hit area.
Italy's Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) climate group said they poured charcoal diluted with water into the fountain.
Italian police intervened soon afterwards, taking the activists away.
The 18th-century fountain in Rome attracts millions of tourists annually.
The Ultima Generazione demanded the end of funding fossil fuels Image: Allesandro Penso/MAPS via REUTERS
What is behind the fountain attack?
The Ultima Generazione group posted photos of the blackened waters of the fountain on Twitter, showing protesters inside the water holding banners against fossil fuels. It said that one of every four houses in Italy was vulnerable to floods, asking: "How much longer do we have to wait for those in government to take concrete action?"
Climate activists have recently been orchestrating several peaceful yet disruptive protests across Europe. Protests usually target cultural sites and museum artworks, attempting to raise climate awareness.
What was the response for the authorities?
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stopped at the flood-hit areas on Sunday after returning early from the G7 summit in Japan. Meloni toured the flooded towns, where rains and landslides displaced thousands. She described the flooding as a "tragedy."
The rain had stopped in most places by Sunday, but a red weather alert was extended to Monday.
Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri condemned the group's latest protest on Sunday. He said in a tweet that 300,000 liters of water would be wasted to clean the fountain.
"Enough of these absurd attacks on our artistic heritage," he wrote.
How far should civil disobedience go? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
mimudidama on May 22nd, 2023 at 07:31 UTC »
People are having debates about effective protesting and the sacrilege of defacing historic artworks. Someone asked for alternative suggestions, I got one. Destroy ultra rich people's yachts. There have been multiple studies concluding that such lavish and polluting extravagencies are damaging for the climate.
I think it's a great idea, unless you are going to defend "everyone's right to property security" in which case I do not care about your opinion whatsoever.
AlarmedTie1950 on May 22nd, 2023 at 03:46 UTC »
Everyone’s attitude in this thread shows we’re so fucked with climate change hahaha it’s gonna fucking steamroll us
_Road-Runner- on May 22nd, 2023 at 02:47 UTC »
Unfortunately, people have had to resort to desperate measures to be heard by their governments, who are blinded by enormous quantities of fossil fuel bribes. People are doing things like this because they aren't being heard by their governments. Governments only seem to care about what big corporations and billionaires want.