Five members of Italy's Ultima
Generazione (Last Generation, UG) climate civil-disobedience
group were detained by Milan police on Wednesday after throwing
blue and pink paint at the entrance of La Scala before the
premiere of the iconic opera house's 2022-23 season.
It is the latest in a series of controversial protests UG has
carried out to highlight the need to address the climate crisis.
The group of protesters held up a banner reading 'Ultima
Generazione - No Gas, No Coal' before the police intervened.
The five were taken to the police headquarters in the city to be
identified and are set to be reported to prosecutors.
UG's actions have included blocking rush-hour traffic in big
cities, disrupting people using private flights, spraying paint
over the offices of institutions linked to fossil fuels and
stunts involving important works of art.
The opening night of La Scala's opera season frequently attracts
protests.
Several groups are gearing up to make their voices heard this
year, when Premier Giorgia Meloni will attend the premiere for
the first time as Italy's head of government.
President Sergio Mattarella and European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen will also be among the officials present
when the opera house kicks off the season with a performance of
Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.
Groups form Milan anti-capitalist centres such as 'il Cantiere'
and 'il Lambretta' said they will stage a protest.
The Cobas left.wing union has said its members will be on the
streets too and they also intend to stage a "candle-lit dinner'
stunt to show how people are unable to afford to pay their
energy bills because of the cost-of-living crisis.
Representatives of the Ukrainian community will be present as
well to protest against Russia's invasion of their country.
Ukraine's consul in Milan had asked La Scala not to open its
season with Boris Godunov to avert possible propaganda use of it
by Moscow.
Ultima Generazione is demanding the immediate halt to the
reopening of decommission coal plants and the scrapping of new
gas-drilling projects in Italy.
It also wants the government to take action to increase the
energy generated by renewables in Italy by at least 20GW each
year.
UG is part of the A22 network of climate civil-disobedience
groups active in several countries, such as Just Stop Oil in the
UK, Stop Old Growth in Canada, Derniere Renovation in France and
Declare Emergency in the United States.
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