Free speech and the right to protest are further under threat in the US following a fossil fuel company successfully using strategic litigation against environmental charity Greenpeace over peaceful protests at a proposed oil pipeline.
Global Witness, which monitors attacks on land and environmental defenders globally, says that a court decision to find Greenpeace’s US entities and Greenpeace International liable for US$660 million for involvement in the protests – pending a Greenpeace appeal – sets a dangerous precedent for the rights of environmental defenders everywhere in the time of climate crisis.
The claims against three Greenpeace companies, including in defamation, civil conspiracy and trespass, have been widely criticised as strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP) cases – designed to shut down Greenpeace’s public interest activities and reporting.
Global Witness Campaign Lead Ana Caistor Arendar said:
“This verdict is more than a legal blow for one not-for-profit organisation, it’s an existential threat to activism, protest and to land and environmental defenders, not just in the US, but everywhere.
“Across the world, fossil fuel companies driving the climate crisis are using ‘SLAPP’ lawsuits as weapons to silence and bankrupt those who dare to challenge their destruction of our planet.
“We know that Big Oil firms have influenced the global political landscape for decades through public relations, lobbying and political donations. Now it appears they're using the judicial space as a means of tamping down dissent.
“It’s telling that Energy Partners chose to bring the case in a state court in North Dakota where, unlike in most other US states, there is no anti-SLAPP statute and where the oil and gas industry is dominant.
“Rather than protecting civil liberties of their citizens, many governments are fanning the flames and enabling this corporate crackdown. Governments around the world – including the US, UK, and Australia for example – have smeared peaceful protests as extremists, passed laws to further criminalize dissent, all while subsidising business as usual from big polluters.
“Global Witness stands with Greenpeace and all those on the frontlines of this fight. The world is watching – defenders will not be silenced.”
