Greenpeace Files Anti-SLAPP Action Against Big Oil

Aug. 3, 2024

Amsterdam, Netherlands — Greenpeace International pushed back today against a meritless, US $300 million lawsuit from US-based fossil fuel company Energy Transfer by sending a Notice of Liability to its headquarters in Dallas, Texas. The Notice of Liability informs Energy Transfer (ET) of Greenpeace International’s intention to bring a lawsuit against the company in a Dutch Court to recover all damage and costs it has suffered as a result of the SLAPP suit, unless ET withdraws its case and accepts responsibility for the harm Greenpeace International has suffered.[1]

The Notice of Liability marks the first application of the new European Union anti-SLAPP Directive. The EU adopted the Directive in April 2024 to combat SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) – abusive lawsuits, like the ET suit, that are meant to silence people who speak out on matters of public interest.[2]

“Energy Transfer’s lawsuit is a perfect prototype of what the EU Directive aims to end: wealthy players using towering legal claims and costs to muzzle criticism. Thanks to a concerted civil society campaign, there is now a strong tool to stop these cases at the EU border and to fight back against them,” said Daniel Simons, Greenpeace International’s Senior Legal Counsel for Strategic Defence.

The first-ever application of the principles and rules set out in the EU anti-SLAPP Directive comes as Greenpeace International and the Greenpeace entities in the US are defending against a brazen lawsuit filed by ET in the wake of the Indigenous-led protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016. ET baselessly claims these protests were covertly instigated by Greenpeace as a way to raise funds. From the outset, this has been an attempt by ET to bury nonprofits and activists in legal fees, push them towards bankruptcy and ultimately silence dissent.

“The threat posed by corporate SLAPPs has been growing in recent years. The Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) was set up in response to build solidarity and advance the case for anti-SLAPP legislation, including the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive published in April 2024. Energy Transfer’s lawsuit – and the Notice of Liability issued by Greenpeace international – represents a crucial test of this new law,” said Anna Myers, Executive Director of the Whistleblowing International Network and member of the CASE Steering Committee.

Based in the Netherlands, Greenpeace International is citing Chapter V of the EU Directive which protects organisations based in the EU against SLAPPs outside the EU, and entitles them to compensation.[3] The Netherlands, like all EU Member States, has until May 2026 to transpose the Directive into national law. But the Directive already aids the interpretation of existing Dutch law. GPI is holding ET (or more precisely, the three ET entities suing in North Dakota: Energy Transfer LP, Energy Transfer Operating LP, and Dakota Access LLC) liable for the damage it has suffered and continues to suffer as a result of the SLAPP suit in North Dakota. If ET does not drop the suit and agree to pay damages to Greenpeace International, it could face a claim for compensation in the Netherlands.

The EU’s anti-SLAPP directive comes into force amid the fossil fuel industry’s widespread misuse of legal systems to target environmental watchdogs, Water Protectors, and any critics, part of a wider trend of increasing SLAPPs. A report by the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) documented 820 SLAPP suits in Europe as of August 2023, with 161 lawsuits filed in 2022, a significant increase in the 135 cases filed in 2021.[4]