What a US$ 345 million judgment means for Greenpeace

Gaby Flores

28 Feb 2026 3 min read

A US court has just sided with fossil fuel pipeline giant Energy Transfer and ordered Greenpeace International and Greenpeace entities in the US to pay US$ 345 million.

Quick backstory: last year, a Morton County jury of nine reached a verdict in Energy Transfer’s abusive intimidation lawsuit against Greenpeace entities in the US (Greenpeace Inc, Greenpeace Fund), and Greenpeace International.

Some of the Greenpeace team hold up a banner outside the Morton County Memorial Courthouse in Mandan, North Dakota March 16, 2025.

Ten years after the world watched the Indigenous-led protests at the Dakota Access Pipeline unfold, representatives from Greenpeace International (GPI) and two Greenpeace entities in the United States fight a meritless lawsuit brought by Energy Transfer in the Morton County Memorial Courthouse in Mandan, North Dakota.

The US-based fossil fuel pipeline company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline is seeking US0 million in damages in one of the world’s most brazen examples of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). ET’s lawsuit attempts to rewrite the history of the Indigenous-led protest at Standing Rock and could have a chilling impact on free speech in the US and beyond. Since 2017, GPI and Greenpeace organizations in the US have been defending against ET’s lawsuits, which ridiculously claim the protests were orchestrated by Greenpeace.

The trial is currently open to the public in the North Dakota courthouse. Multiple attempts by media and watchdog groups to petition the court for greater transparency and accessibility to the trial proceedings have been denied. The Greenpeace parties’ request for public livestreaming was denied, and a request for expanded media cover by a number of outlets and journalists was also denied. — Some of the Greenpeace team hold up a banner outside the Morton County Memorial Courthouse in Mandan, North Dakota March 16, 2025.
© Stephanie Keith / Greenpeace

The new judgment from the North Dakota court rejects portions of the absurd jury verdict delivered last March but still awards hundreds of millions of dollars to ET without a sound basis in law, failing to solve the injustices of the case. This judgement is the biggest damage award ever imposed on Greenpeace organisations. It’s meant to shut the movement up.

In response to the growing threat against free speech and peaceful protest, Greenpeace USA lit up Houston with bold projections of resistance and solidarity onto iconic city locations. The projections come three weeks into the 0 million lawsuit brought by Dallas-based Energy Transfer (ET) against Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace Fund, and Greenpeace International. — In response to the growing threat against free speech and peaceful protest, Greenpeace USA lit up Houston with bold projections of resistance and solidarity onto iconic city locations.
© Greenpeace

So let’s be clear: this type of corporate bullying is designed to rob us of our rights and freedoms.

Energy Transfer has pursued this intimidation lawsuit because Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace International dared to show solidarity with Indigenous environmental defenders who oppose the climate-wrecking Dakota Access Pipeline. It was never about justice and Energy Transfer’s SLAPP suit remains a blatant attempt to silence free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Greenpeace staff, allies and volunteers collaborating to create art work for Free Speech Rally during We Will Not Be Silenced Week of Action in Dallas.
© Shelby Tauber / Greenpeace

So what comes next? Greenpeace International and Greenpeace organisations in the US will seek a new trial, and if that is denied, appeal the judgment with the North Dakota Supreme Court.

At the same time, Greenpeace International has a suit pending against Energy Transfer in the Netherlands under the EU’s anti-SLAPP directive – a landmark test case against corporate bullying.

Energy Transfer’s SLAPPs are part of a wave of abusive lawsuits filed by Big Oil companies like Shell, Total, and ENI against Greenpeace entities in recent years but we will continue to resist intimidation tactics. The fight against Energy Transfer’s SLAPP continues — and it is far from over. We will not be silenced.

Nearly 100,000 people demonstrated in Paris and 300,000 in France to defend workers’ rights, including the right to live in a peaceful world and a healthy environment.
Greenpeace France participated in the demonstration to denounce the collusion between billionaires, fossil industries and the far right, and to emphasize the unbreakable link between ecology and the fight against discrimination.
Nearly 100,000 people demonstrated in Paris and 300,000 in France to defend workers’ rights, including the right to live in a peaceful world and a healthy environment.
Greenpeace France participated in the demonstration to denounce the collusion between billionaires, fossil industries and the far right, and to emphasize the unbreakable link between ecology and the fight against discrimination.
As part of Greenpeace International’s global campaign against the SLAPP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation) order against Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace volunteers unfurled a banner with the text "Time to Resist". — Nearly 100,000 people demonstrated in Paris and 300,000 in France to defend workers’ rights, including the right to live in a peaceful world and a healthy environment.
© Hélène Boissel-Arrieta / Greenpeace

We will only get louder, joining our voices to those of our allies all around the world against the corporate polluters and billionaire oligarchs who prioritise profits over people and the planet.