- The law aims to deter climate change protests and gives authorities the power to impose fines of between €20,000 (£17,000) and €60,000 (£50,000).
Environmental destroyers in Italy will face fines of up to £50,000 under new legislation passed on Thursday to stop destructive environmental protests.
The move comes after climate activists have targeted a series of famous monuments and blocked roads in European countries in recent years.
The ruling also comes after a judge on Wednesday indicted three members of Italian climate activist organization Ultima Generazione (Last Generation, or UG).
This was after Maurizio Cattelan’s LOVE sculpture of a hand with the middle finger raised in Milan was sprayed with orange removable paint last year.
The law aims to stop such protests and gives authorities the power to impose fines of between €20,000 (£17,000) and €60,000 (£50,000).
Like Just Stop Oil in the UK and other countries, UG has carried out a series of controversial acts of civil disobedience.
Their goal is to draw attention to the climate crisis, and they have done so through large-scale stunts and traffic stops targeting national monuments.
In other instances, people have been seen pouring paint or gluing themselves onto famous works of art in order to provoke a reaction from the public.
In the case of Maurizio Cattelan’s LOVE sculpture, three people aged between 23 and 29 poured orange paint onto the stand where it is displayed.
Cattelan himself wrote a letter to the defendant’s lawyers stating that the artwork (commonly known as “The Finger”) was not damaged by the stunt.
The 63-year-old artist said he did not feel “offended or hurt.”
However, other stunts provoked further angry reactions from the public.
Also last year, climate change activists entered the waters of Rome’s world-famous Trevi Fountain and poured a black liquid symbolizing petroleum.
They unfurled banners and chanted, “Our country is falling,” as tourists at the monument took photos and cheered and booed.
The group claimed that the liquid was carbon-based and would not damage the fountain, but the mayor of Rome said that regardless, the city would dispose of 300,000 liters of water circulating through the Trevi Fountain. and said it needed to be replaced.
The group also threw paint at Milan’s famous La Scala opera house, threw food at the glass protecting iconic paintings, and sprayed the Italian Senate with orange paint.
Members have also been obstructing traffic, infuriating motorists.
Several videos show activists sitting in the middle of busy roads, causing long traffic jams during morning and afternoon rush hours.
This has always led to ordinary people taking matters into their own hands, ripping banners from activists’ hands and dragging them off the streets.
In October, an irate driver in Milan repeatedly kicked and dragged a climate protester blocking traffic.
About 20 Ultima Generazione (translated as Last Generation) activists blocked the road, angering several motorists caught in the resulting traffic jam.
Footage shows several activists sitting at a busy multi-lane intersection, holding hands and holding orange climate emergency banners, causing confusion for rush hour motorists. It was shown that there was.
Shocking scenes were captured on video as several drivers, enraged by protesters blocking the road, got out of their cars and banded together to drive their cars off the road.
Other climate activist groups are also active in Italy.
In December, Extinction Rebellion protesters used dye to turn Venice’s famous Grand Canal green, protesting comments made at the time at the COP28 climate change summit in Dubai.
The group’s activists, with the help of helmets and climbing ropes, made their way to the canal while holding a banner that read: “COP28: While governments talk, we are hanging on by a thread.” was seen hanging from the Rialto Bridge.
And in 2022, Italy’s eco-lovers were transfixed by Botticelli’s masterpiece Primavera at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
In the same year, 11 activists threw flour at a car painted by Andy Warhol while it was on display at the Fabrica del Vapore art center in Milan.
British groups such as Just Stop Oil have employed similar tactics in recent years.
In one instance, an activist was tied to a goal post with a cable during a football match at Everton FC’s Goodison Park, sparking an angry reaction from the crowd.
In another incident, two Just Stop Oil activists, including Phoebe Plummer, poured soup on Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece Sunflowers at London’s National Gallery.
Fortunately, the painting was protected by a glass shield.
Plummer was sentenced to up to six months in prison for another incident in which he caused traffic disruption by driving slowly in London.
Just Stop Oil protesters also spray-painted buildings including the Metropolitan Police’s Scotland Yard and the Aston Martin car showroom.