Greenpeace UK has said it has raised more than £1m in response to a multi-million-pound lawsuit brought by Shell.
Last year, six Greenpeace International activists boarded and occupied a moving Shell oil platform, demanding that the British oil giant stop drilling for new oil and gas.
Shell said the protest, which lasted 13 days, was “both unlawful and dangerous”, and sought and received injunctions from the court.
To get the injunctions, Shell filed a legal claim against Greenpeace which seeks to recover the costs of responding to Greenpeace’s actions.
In response, Greenpeace UK launched the Stop Shell Appeal in November 2023, which has now reached over £1m.
25,000 donations in nine months
The appeal received nearly 25,000 donations in nine months alongside support from celebrities including Simon Pegg, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Greenpeace UK said donations now exceed the amount Shell is seeking in damages, “although legal costs are likely to run into millions”.
In a statement, Shell wrote that “the legal costs to secure court injunctions were significant, as were the costs for the contracting companies who had to deal with the action at sea, for example by mobilising an extra safety vessel and increasing security at the destination port in Norway”.
According to Greenpeace UK, the oil firm originally threatened to seek damages in excess of $8m but later revised this down to $1m (£789,000).
“It’s one of the biggest legal threats any Greenpeace organisation has faced in its 53-year history,” it said.
“Proceeds are being used to fight the legal case and to campaign for Shell and other oil majors to stop drilling and start paying for the climate damage they have caused.”
‘Shell’s attempt to intimidate us is only making us stronger’.
Philip Evans, campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “Shell’s attempt to intimidate us is only making us stronger.
“Ordinary people have had enough of watching Shell make billions in profit from a commodity that’s driving energy bills up and fuelling climate disasters around the world.
“Shell might have deep pockets, but the determination of our supporters runs deeper.
“This fight is only just beginning. Those in power are doing nothing to hold the fossil fuel giants to account.
“The new Labour government should place bold new polluter taxes on oil companies to support the communities hit hardest by the climate crisis at home and abroad.”
Shell: ‘This isn’t about preventing Greenpeace’s freedom of expression’
A spokesperson for Shell told Civil Society: “This isn’t, and never has been, about preventing Greenpeace’s freedom of expression.
“The right to protest is fundamental and Shell respects this absolutely, but it must be done safely and legally.
“This case is about preventing the kind of dangerous and unlawful protest at sea that puts lives in danger, including the protestors themselves.
“At the time the injunctions were granted, the judge said protestors were ‘putting their lives and, indirectly, the lives of the crew at risk’. He was also clear that Greenpeace could still protest from a safe distance and that their human rights were not infringed.”
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