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Greenpeace International has launched the first test case under the European Union’s anti-SLAPP legislation, taking US oil pipeline company Energy Transfer to court. The new European legislation, Greenpeace’s APAC general counsel says, offers a “crucial safeguard for the fundamental right to free speech”.
In a landmark test case, Greenpeace International is taking the US oil pipeline company Energy Transfer to court, marking the first legal challenge under the European Union’s new laws aimed at protecting freedom of expression and preventing abusive lawsuits.
The case, heard in Amsterdam last week, represents a major escalation in Greenpeace’s ongoing battle against what its executive director calls the “bullying tactics” employed by large fossil fuel corporations seeking to silence their critics.
Energy Transfer previously filed two consecutive Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) suits against Greenpeace in the United States, following the organisation’s support of the 2016 peaceful Indigenous-led protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
While the first lawsuit was dismissed, Greenpeace continues to defend itself in the second case, where a North Dakota jury recently awarded Energy Transfer over US$660 million (more than AU$1 billion) in damages.
Currently, the ACT remains the only jurisdiction in Australia with anti-SLAPP laws, leaving the rest of the country without clear legal safeguards for public interest advocacy.
In a statement, Greenpeace reported that activists and supporters gathered outside the Amsterdam courthouse for the first hearing, unveiling a large banner that read: “Energy Transfer, welcome to the EU – Where free speech is still a thing”.
Mads Flarup Christensen, executive director of Greenpeace International, said the landmark court case represents a broader fight, not just for the organisation, but for the public at large, to defend free speech.
“Energy Transfer’s attack on our right to protest is an attack on everyone’s free speech. Greenpeace has been the target of threats, arrests and even bombs over the last 50 years and persevered. We will continue to resist all forms of intimidation and explore every option to hold Energy Transfer accountable for this attempt at abusing the justice system,” Christensen said.
“This groundbreaking anti-SLAPP case against Energy Transfer in the Netherlands is just the beginning of defeating this bullying tactic being wielded by billionaires and fossil fuel giants trying to silence critics all over the world. Something absolutely vital is at stake here: people’s ability to hold corporate polluters to account for the devastation they’re causing.”
Katrina Bullock, general counsel for Greenpeace Australia Pacific, described SLAPP as “a weapon used to bully peaceful climate defenders and strangle public debate”.
She noted that the introduction of the EU’s new anti-SLAPP laws has “provided a crucial safeguard for the fundamental right to free speech” and emphasised the importance of extending these protections beyond Europe.
“Greenpeace International’s case against Energy Transfer shows how anti-SLAPP laws can be a powerful tool to restore justice and protect those who speak up in the public interest. Australia urgently needs similar anti-SLAPP laws to ensure communities, journalists, and advocates can challenge powerful interests without fear of retaliation,” Bullock said.
“The real threat here is not communities or their lawyers, but the damaging activities of fossil fuel corporations that are accelerating climate change and putting a safe, sustainable future for all Australians at risk.”
