In a clear message to corporate bullies everywhere, Greenpeace International is heading back to court in July - this time in the Netherlands - to challenge a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) filed by oil pipeline company Energy Transfer. This is a landmark test of the European Union's new anti-SLAPP Law, and the outcome could set a precedent that helps invalidate abusive lawsuits across Europe, and show that freedom of speech is strong and that corporate bullying will not stand.
Major oil companies and other polluters around the world are increasingly using SLAPP lawsuits intended to bury nonprofits and activists in legal fees, push them towards bankruptcy, and ultimately silence dissent.
This is exactly what has happened to several Greenpeace organisations. The fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer brought a SLAPP lawsuit in the US against Greenpeace International and Greenpeace in the USA, related to the Standing Rock Indigenous-led resistance against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. In March of this year, a jury found the environmental organisations liable to pay a perverse US$667 million in damages to Energy Transfer. This is a textbook example of a SLAPP.
These suits, increasingly favored by billionaires and fossil fuel corporations, should alarm every single person, regardless of ideology or political affiliation. If corporations can sue environmental organisations into silence, they can do the same to journalists, whistleblowers, unions, and grassroots movements. Today, it's protests for the right to clean water and a safe climate. Tomorrow, it could be reproductive rights, racial justice, labor rights or any cause that threatens those in power.
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The EU defends itself against SLAPPs
In Europe, CASE - the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe - identified more than a thousand SLAPP cases during 2010-2023, with 166 filed in 2023 alone
In order to better protect journalists, human rights activists, and their organisations from abusive lawsuits in the future, the European Union adopted the Anti-SLAPP Directive in April 2024. This is intended to prevent rich companies from abusing courts to silence those who express critical views and give victims of SLAPPs the opportunity to defend themselves.
The new EU Anti-SLAPP Directive is applied in Greenpeace International's lawsuit against Energy Transfer, where the goal is to recover all damages and costs that Greenpeace International incurred in Energy Transfer's abusive SLAPP lawsuits.
Although the deadline for EU member states to transpose the Directive into national law is 7 May 2026, the Dutch government has indicated that enforcement of the Anti-SLAPP Directive is already possible in the Netherlands through the application of existing Dutch law. Chapter V of the Directive in particular protects EU-based organizations from SLAPP lawsuits brought by non-EU entities, and grants them the right to compensation.
This court case is an important first test of the new EU Anti-SLAPP Directive, and could set a precedent to invalidate abusive lawsuits, clear the way for justice in other similar intimidating cases, and show that corporate bullying will not stand. Now or ever. It's time to resist.
Amy Jacobsen, Legal counsel, Greenpeace International
