On Saturday (1) a group of activists against the climate crisis poured a black liquid made from coal into the historic Barcaccia fountain in the Spanish Steps in central Rome and displayed a banner calling for an end to investment in fossil fuels .
The protest dyed the water of the fountain and took place in the presence of several people, including tourists and residents, passing through the square, considered one of the monumental symbols of the Italian capital.
The activists, two men and a woman, belong to the “Last Generation” group, which claimed responsibility for the vandalism on its social networks. “It is absurd that we are scandalized by gestures like this when we are experiencing a drought emergency that is undermining agriculture, energy production … our very livelihood. And we are responsible”, wrote the protesters on Twitter.
The group, booed by thousands of people, was stopped by the carabinieri of the “eternal city” and could be sued for damage to public property.
“If seeing this black water bothers you it is because, like us, you recognize how precious what we are losing is. C and instead are leading us directly to a catastrophic rise of at least 2.5°C,” the activists said.
According to him, “this means that extreme events will make our lands uninhabitable. This means that desertification and drought will increase, causing uncontrolled migration. This means that everything will collapse, our economic and social balance”. “There is only one way to stop this race to collective suicide: stop emissions related to fossil fuels,” he argues.
Finally, the demonstrators underline that, “with this action, we want to ask the government to stop investing in environmentally harmful subsidies. With this action, we invite you not to resign yourself to this death sentence”.
The mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, went to Piazza di Spagna and reiterated that the acts are wrong, because “we must not damage our heritage”.
“We are a city strongly committed to the environment, we want to achieve climate neutrality. We share the issue of raising citizens’ awareness of the risk of climate change, but this is not the correct method,” he said during the site inspection.
For the mayor of the Italian capital, “it is not by risking damaging our heritage that we help the environment”.
Built between 1626 and 1629 in travertine marble by the sculptor Pietro Bernini, father of Gian Lorenzo, the Barcaccia fountain is a Baroque fountain located under the Spanish Steps. Its name refers to its shape of a half-sunken boat with water gushing out the sides. .
Source: Terra
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