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Standing up to Shell

Thousands of Greenpeace supporters raise £1m to fight Shell lawsuit
Katie Hill - Editor-in-Chief, My Green Pod
Activists with banner during occupation of Shell platform

Main image: Activists on a Shell platform in the Atlantic Ocean, 2023 © Greenpeace

Greenpeace UK has revealed that members of the public have donated over £1 million so far in response to the multimillion-pound lawsuit brought by Shell.

Campaigners said the legal case was intended to intimidate the group into silence and drain its resources, but has instead had the opposite effect.

The milestone was reached just before Shell announced last week £4.9 billion ($6.3bn) in profits for the second quarter of this year, following its record £22.3 billion profits last year.

’Stop drilling and start paying’

Greenpeace UK launched the ‘Stop Shell Appeal’ last November after Shell sued the environmental NGO over a peaceful climate protest earlier in the year.

It is one of the biggest legal threats any Greenpeace organisation has faced in its 53-year history.

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.

Deep pockets vs deep determination

Campaigners at the group said they’ve seen an unprecedented response to the lawsuit, with almost 25,000 donations received in just nine months and support from celebrities including Simon Pegg, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Donations now exceed the amount the oil giant is seeking in damages ($1 million, or £789,000), though legal costs are likely to run into millions.

‘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.’

PHILIP EVANS
Campaigner at Greenpeace UK

Celebrities and social media

While the more conventional approach to lawsuits has been to lie low and leave the lawyers to it, Greenpeace has waged an irreverent campaign against the oil giant using social media spoof videos and unusual celebrity partnerships.

This has included British comedian Joe Lycett pretending to sue Harry Styles for a KitKat in an elaborate prank that resulted in more than £70,000 raised in T-shirt sales. 

In a meme video Cousin Greg, a character from the hit TV series Succession, threatened to sue Greenpeace. It has racked up over four million views on social media (including a £25,000 donation from the show’s creator Jesse Armstrong).

Greenpeace has also delivered a tiny violin to Shell’s HQ in London.

A ‘SLAPP’ lawsuit

Shell’s lawsuit has been widely acknowledged to be a strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP), a type of abusive lawsuit commonly brought by wealthy corporations to silence criticism.

The UK Anti-SLAPP coalition – a group of leading media organisations, lawyers and rights groups – has issued a statement in support of Greenpeace.
 
Shell launched the lawsuit in late 2023 in response to a peaceful protest by Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International earlier that year, in which activists peacefully occupied a moving oil platform to protest against the climate change loss and damage caused by Shell. 
 
Activists were calling on the company to stop drilling for new oil and gas, and start paying for climate damage that the oil and gas industry is fuelling around the world.

Shell acknowledges no damage was caused to its equipment, but is nonetheless demanding extensive damages.

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Activists holding placards by Gideon Mendel of climate impacted communities from around the world and placards saying “Shell will never silence us on the climate crisis” protest outside the English Admirality Court in London.
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