During the stunt on December 10, four protesters suspended themselves from the city’s Rialto Bridge, carrying a banner reading: “Cop28: while the government talks, we hang on by a thread.”
A statement from the Italian climate action group said their green dye was harmless.
“In a few hours, these waters will return to how they were before.
“In the meantime, while governments speak, we count the damage and victims of continuous floods and fires.”
However the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, argued that Sunday’s spectacular demonstration was not without cost.
“Venice is a fragile city, to love and above all to respect! That’s enough now,” Brugnaro said via social media.
Two dozen people were arrested and the famous bridge was closed for inspection.
Brugnaro said that the city was reporting the eco-vandals for “interruption of public service” and hoped that they would be handed prison sentences.
The outspoken official has previously used his inflammatory social media presence to spark a city-wide hunt for tourists swimming in canals.
Among those detained were students of the Venetian university Ca’ Foscari.
While there were no charges reported, five of the group were reportedly given four-year banishment orders from the city. This is double the maximum period under a general DASPO urban expulsion order.
Although the renaissance city state is famous for strict punishments and fines for unruly tourists, periods of banishment seem relatively medieval.
The four-year period is possibly the strictest handed out by the Citta di Venezia since the 1770s when Mozart’s librettist was expelled for 15 years for fathering illegitimate children.
In September Kanye West and wife Bianca were reportedly banned for life from using any Venezia Turismo Motoscafi boats. However, the city rarely issues banishments.
Two other protesters were expelled for a period of 48 hours.
DASPO: Venice Police outline acts that can get you banned
Last year the city of Venice’s Municipal Police outlined the fines and penalties that can be handed out to visitors.
As part of the public awareness campaign Enjoy Respect Venezia, the city said its administrative fines were in place “to preserve urban cleanliness and landscape, and also for reasons of safety and public hygiene”.
Civic penalties range from €25 to €500 ($44 to $880) and includes the dreaded DASPO urbano or “urban banning order”.
The banishment order, originally designed to ban unruly individuals from “sporting events”, has been extended to urban areas and can be extended to a period of two years, according to Italian civic rights advocacy group Avvocato Di Strada.
More recently it has been used to ban visitors to Venice for misdemeanours as diverse as sitting on steps or swimming in canals.
Here are the seven areas the Venice police have outlined as “forbidden behaviour”.
- Eating or drinking while sitting on the ground, steps or monuments - €100 to €200, punishable by DASPO
- Bathing or swimming in canals - €350, punishable by DASPO
- Littering - €350
- Appearing in public bare-chested or in swimming costume - €250
- Feeding birds - €25 to €500
- Taking bikes into the city - €100 (even pushing a bike into the city can land you a fine)
- Camping or sleeping in public areas - €200, punishable by DASPO
