Climate News: Dakota Access Pipeline lawsuit finds Greenpeace liable for over $660m in damages

Greenpeace has been found guilty of defamation by a North Dakota jury and ordered to pay more than $660m to Energy Transfer, a fossil fuel pipeline giant in North America.

The court case began in February and concluded on 19 March with a verdict against the environmental campaigning group. Investigating the 2016 protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, or the Standing Rock protests, the lawsuit stated that Greenpeace carried out an “unlawful and violent scheme” for its involvement in the protests.

Such a large payment threatens to bankrupt Greenpeace

This ruling follows a string of blows against environmentalist movements in the USA, after President Trump once again pulled out of the Paris climate agreement – as he did in 2017 – disavowing the commitment to slash carbon emissions.

In a statement on its website, Greenpeace called the case “meritless” and claimed that Energy Transfer brought forward the SLAPP trial to silence and hinder the climate action group, preventing its future operations. According to the organisation, such a large payment threatens to bankrupt Greenpeace. Not only was the US branch, Greenpeace USA, on trial, but so too was the funding arm, Greenpeace Fund Inc., and the parent group, Greenpeace International.

This isn’t the first so-called SLAPP trial the group has faced. Shell and TotalEnergies have both filed similar lawsuits against Greenpeace in the past, and lost. Greenpeace claims they are “just getting started” with its countersuit in the Dutch court, seeking damages for all of ET’s “meritless” lawsuits.

This loss for Greenpeace has led to widespread fear for the future of climate activism in the US

Many supporters of Greenpeace have raised concerns with the jury selected for the case. Despite petitions to move the location, the trial was held in North Dakota, a place known for its oil industry where many workers are engaged in fossil fuels. One such worker claimed he would be “out on the streets” without fossil fuels, and yet remained on the jury.

The involvement of Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren with Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns has also been noted. In the 2024 election, Warren donated $5m to the MAGA Inc. fundraiser after Trump promised to deregulate oil and gas tycoons in exchange for $1bn in donations.

This loss for Greenpeace has led to widespread fear for the future of climate activism in the US, described by civil rights lawyer Marty Garbus as “one of the worst First Amendment decisions in American history”. Should Greenpeace fail its appeal, it may mean the group ceases action entirely in the US, though the group has stated they “will not back down”.