Greenpeace ordered to pay $345 m in damages to O&G company Energy Transfer in the United States

$345 m (€294 m) is the amount of damages for defamation, conspiracy, trespass and tortious interference that Greenpeace entities have been ordered to pay to Energy Transfer, a US oil company, following a ruling by a North Dakota district court on 27/02/2026.

This decision by the District Court of North Dakota follows a jury verdict in March 2025 ordering the Greenpeace entities to pay more than $660m (€562m). The judge rejected several elements of the jury's verdict and reduced the total amount of damages.

Energy Transfer filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace International and the American entities Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace Fund in 2017, when the NGO opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline project, built by the company in North Dakota, alongside the indigenous people of Standing Rock.

For Greenpeace, this is a "SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) and an attempt to silence freedom of expression". Greenpeace International and the relevant Greenpeace entities in the United States have announced that they are seeking a new trial and will appeal the decision to the North…