Greenpeace has revealed that members of the public have donated
over $1 million dollars to help it fight a multimillion dollar
SLAPP lawsuit from Shell and continue campaigning against Shell
and the wider industry, exceeding the amount Shell is demanding
in damages.
Greenpeace launched the ‘Stop Shell Appeal' last
November after Shell sued the environmental NGO over a peaceful
climate protest earlier in the year. Shell is demanding around $1
million in damages, as well as legal fees that could rise into
millions more, making it one of the biggest legal threats against
Greenpeace in its more than 50-year history. The average donation
to the appeal is £40.
The news comes days after Greenpeace and Shell's legal teams met
in court for the first time last Friday. Greenpeace activists
demonstrated outside the court prior to the start of the hearing,
holding placards reading ‘Shell will never silence us on the
climate crisis' and images of survivors of extreme weather events
from around the world.
Philip Evans, Campaigner at Greenpeace UK,
said: “Shell thought that a multimillion dollar
lawsuit would intimidate us into silence, but the outpouring of
public support shows how badly they misjudged this. Ordinary
people have had enough of watching Shell make billions in profit
from a commodity that's driving energy bills up and fueling
climate disasters around the world.
“The fight is only just beginning. Those in power are doing
nothing to hold the fossil fuel giants to account, so we will
keep campaigning until Shell and the rest of the industry stops
drilling and starts paying for the climate catastrophe they are
fuelling around the world. Shell might have deep pockets, but our
supporters' commitment runs deeper still.”
Shell's lawsuit has been widely acknowledged to be a strategic
litigation against public participation (SLAPP), a type of
abusive lawsuit commonly brought by wealthy corporations to
silence criticism. Last week, the UK Anti-SLAPP coalition, a
group of leading UK media organisations, lawyers and rights
groups and media organisations including Amnesty International,
the Committee to Protect Journalists and Index on Censorship
issued a statement in support of
Greenpeace.
On the same day, the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE), a
coalition of 118 prominent rights groups including the European
Federation of Journalists, the International Federation for Human
Rights (FIDH), and PEN International has certified Shell's
lawsuit against Greenpeace as a SLAPP.
Celebrity supporters including Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch,
Emma Thompson and Greta Thunberg joined almost 180,000 members of
the public in signing an open
letter backing Greenpeace's campaign, while Emmy winning
writer of Succession Jesse Armstrong donated £25,000 to the ‘Stop
Shell Appeal'.
Shell launched the lawsuit in late 2023 in response to
a peaceful protest by
Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International earlier that year, in
which activists peacefully occupied a moving oil platform to
protest against the climate change loss and damage caused by
Shell.
Activists were calling on the company to stop drilling for new
oil and gas, and start paying for climate damage that the oil and
gas industry is fuelling around the world. Shell acknowledges no
damage was caused to its equipment, but is nonetheless demanding
extensive damages.
