We’re taking a Big Oil bully to court

It's time for facing down bullies.

When we look at the state of the world, we see a pattern that cannot be ignored: Rights and freedoms are under threat from corporations and from autocrats. People and organisations are targeted for telling the truth, for solidarity, and for defending their communities from corporate extractivism.

People around the world are tired of billionaires and corporate polluters behaving like the law does not apply to them.

People in Rembrandtpark, Amsterdam display a banner reading 'Hello there, Energy Transfer, next stop: Amsterdam Court', ahead of a hearing on 16 April for the Greenpeace International anti-SLAPP (Strategic lawsuits against public participation) case in the Dutch capital against oil pipeline Energy Transfer.

Facing down a Big Oil bully in court

Greenpeace International faces Big Oil bully Energy Transfer at the Amsterdam court on 16 April as part of our landmark anti-SLAPP case to pursue justice in our home territory under Dutch and EU law.

Energy Transfer has been waging abusive lawsuits against Greenpeace International and Greenpeace in the US for nearly a decade. In February, a North Dakota District Court awarded the US-based pipeline company US$345 million in damages. These SLAPPs are blatant attempts to silence free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

They want us - and all climate activists - to be scared by their corporate intimidation tactics. But their tactics won't succeed. We have already filed a motion for a new trial in the US and will, if necessary, appeal.

Energy Transfer is desperate to avoid this case. Of course they are. Bullies always think they can get away with anything.

July 2025: People gather outside the New Amsterdam Courthouse holding a banner reading "Energy Transfer, Welcome To The EU Where Free Speech Is Still A Thing" to mark the beginning of Greenpeace International's anti-SLAPP lawsuit against fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer filed in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Why this anti-SLAPP case matters for activists everywhere

This landmark anti-SLAPP lawsuit - invoking the European Union's new directive for the first time - sends a clear message to every bully, billionaire, and corporate polluter: your era of intimidation is over, and your tactics of fear will no longer work.

And it also sends a message to our allies: that it is time to resist. We know we are strongest together, and we know we can win this legal fight.

At the end of the day, this case is about a simple, undeniable truth: that power belongs to the people. It cannot be hijacked by bullies - and it certainly cannot be bought by oligarchs.

We are shining a light on the global threat of SLAPPs.

We will make sure this bully understands that its intimidation attempts are failing.

And we want any corporations thinking of using a lawsuit as a weapon to know these tactics will backfire.

We stand firm. We stand together. And we will not be silenced.