Greenpeace International and Greenpeace UK have agreed to donate £300,000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) as part of a lawsuit settlement with oil giant Shell.
Last year, Shell sued both Greenpeace organisations and nine individuals for millions after six activists boarded and occupied one of its moving oil platforms for 13 days.
Initially, Shell sought damages in excess of $8m (around £6m) but revised this down to $1m in its court filing, and “planned to spend another $10m in legal fees”, according to Greenpeace UK.
On 10 December, both parties announced that they had reached a legal settlement.
As part of this, Greenpeace defendants “will accept no liability and pay no money to Shell, instead agreeing to donate £300,000 to the RNLI”, Greenpeace UK said.
In addition, they have signed a legally binding commitment that prohibits them from travelling within 500m of three Shell oil and gas platforms in the North Sea for five years and one site for 10 years.
An RNLI spokesperson said: “We’re grateful to have received the donation, which will support our core purpose of saving lives at sea.”
Greenpeace: ‘Not a penny of our supporters’ money will go to Shell’
Areeba Hamid, co-executive director at Greenpeace UK, said: “Shell thought suing us for millions over a peaceful protest would intimidate us, but this case became a PR millstone tied around its neck.
“The public backlash against its bullying tactics made it back down and settle out of court.
“This settlement shows that people power works. Thousands of ordinary people across the country backed our fight against Shell and their support means we stay independent and can keep holding ‘big oil’ to account.”
Hamid added that “we’ve ensured not a penny of our supporters’ money will go to Shell and all funds raised will be used to continue campaigning against the fossil fuel industry and other big polluters”.
“This legal battle might be over, but big oil’s dirty tricks aren’t going away,” she said.
“With Greenpeace facing further legal battles around the world, we won’t stop campaigning until the fossil fuel industry stops drilling and starts paying for the damage it is causing to people and the planet.”
Shell: Right to protest has never been at issue
Shell disputed the $11m figure used by Greenpeace in its communications, saying that the direct costs incurred as a result of the “unlawful and dangerous boarding” amounted to $900,000.
These included around “$500,000 incurred for the support vessel to provide emergency response in the event of a safety incident (including any involving the protestors) and to deter further attempted boardings”, Shell said.
The company said it “wasn’t seeking to recover any losses from individual protestors” nor trying to silence Greenpeace.
“Shell is pleased that the dispute has been settled and that a payment in lieu of the costs it incurred can benefit a charity working on safety at sea,” it said in a statement.
“For Shell, the right to protest is fundamental and has never been at issue.
“Instead, this case was about an illegal boarding by protestors which a High Court judge described as ‘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 their human rights weren’t infringed.”
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