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Shell v. Greenpeace - press release

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In February 2023, Shell and platform builder Fluor filed a SLAPP lawsuit against Greenpeace UK, Greenpeace International, and nine activists, after activists peacefully occupied a moving Shell oil platform. That protest saw activists occupy Shell’s Penguins floating production storage and offloading unit for 13 days over January and February 2023. The Penguins platform is the first newly operated vessel for Shell in the northern North Sea in 30 years. At peak production, the project is expected to yield the equivalent of 45,000 barrels of oil per day, and Shell has suggested it could open up further areas for exploration. 

Initially, Shell claimed $2.1 million in damages over the protests in the North Sea, also calling for an indefinite block on all protests at Shell infrastructure at sea anywhere in the world. 

In December 2023, in its court filing, Shell reduced its claim to $1 million USD (c£800,000). The lawsuit calls for an indefinite block on all protests at Shell infrastructure anywhere in the world, or the company would make claims that could reach $8.6m (£7m). In December 2024, Greenpeace International and Greenpeace UK agreed with Shell to settle the suit. The Greenpeace defendants faced over $11 million USD in damages and legal costs as a result of the lawsuit. As part of the final settlement, they will accept no liability and pay no money to Shell, instead agreeing to donate £300,000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). They have also agreed to avoid protesting for a period at four Shell sites in the northern North Sea. The Greenpeace defendants have agreed not to travel within 500m of three Shell sites for a period of five years and one Shell site for a period of ten years. All of these sites are in the North Sea.

Shell v. Greenpeace

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Shell v. Greenpeace - press release

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance