Anti-SLAPP Lawsuit

Greenpeace International vs. Energy Transfer

In a clear message to corporate bullies everywhere, Greenpeace International initiated the first test of the European Union’s anti-SLAPP Directive by filing a lawsuit in Dutch court against US-based fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer. A hearing is scheduled for July 2025.

Climate March during COP25 in Madrid. © Pablo Blazquez / Greenpeace

Inside the legal fight against SLAPPs

The meritless lawsuits filed by Energy Transfer (ET) against Greenpeace International and Greenpeace entities in the US since 2017 are clear-cut examples of SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation). Like all SLAPPs, ET’s lawsuits have been an attempt to bury nonprofits and activists in legal fees, push them towards bankruptcy and ultimately silence dissent. 

Based in the Netherlands, Greenpeace International is citing Dutch law as well as the European Union’s anti-SLAPP Directive in seeking to recover all damages and costs it has suffered as a result of ET’s back-to-back, meritless lawsuits demanding hundreds of millions of dollars against GPI and the Greenpeace entities in the United States.

Documents

Free Speech Message Delivered to Energy Transfer in Dallas. © Laura Buckman / Greenpeace
Greenpeace activists stand outside Klyde Warren Park with signs for a recent campaign aimed at Energy Transfer. Greenpeace USA began running a series of advertisements targeted at oil company Energy Transfer (ET) near their corporate headquarters, over the company’s attempt to use the legal system to intimidate and silence critics. The ads, running messages like “Don’t Mess With Free Speech” and “Democracy Runs on Free Speech, Not Oil and Gas” appeared in Dallas. The displays and accompanying yard signs are part of a new campaign to defend freedom of expression in the United States and save Greenpeace USA from a corporate intimidation tactic designed to shutter the storied environmental and climate organization.
© Laura Buckman / Greenpeace
Legal Documents from ET’s SLAPP lawsuit
Dakota Access Pipeline Day of Action in Los Angeles © Jonathan Alcorn / Greenpeace
People raise their fists in support of the Standing Rock Nation at the Los Angeles area office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The protest was one of many in a global day of action against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). © Jonathan Alcorn / Greenpeace
Updates from Greenpeace’s defense