Shell and Greenpeace Settle Lawsuit Over Ship Protest with £300,000 Donation

Shell and Greenpeace Settle Lawsuit Over Ship Protest with £300,000 Donation | Daily Tribune

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Shell on Tuesday said it had settled a legal dispute with Greenpeace that the British energy giant brought after environmental protesters boarded a ship carrying an oil and gas platform.

Greenpeace protesters remained on the White Marlin vessel for several days at the start of 2023, demanding the fossil-fuel producer end drilling and pay for its climate impact.

Greenpeace has agreed to make a donation of £300,000 ($383,000) to a lifeboat charity without accepting liability or paying money to Shell.

The green group also agreed that demonstrators would not go within 500 meters of three Shell North Sea sites for five years, and a fourth site for a decade.

In January 2023, four Greenpeace demonstrators boarded the heavy-load ship carrying the floating platform, as it sailed in the Atlantic Ocean close to the Canary Islands.

“Shell is pleased that the dispute has been settled and that a payment in lieu of the costs it incurred can benefit a charity working on safety at sea,” the energy group said in a statement Tuesday.

Areeba Hamid, co-executive director at Greenpeace UK, said the settlement — including the donation to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution — “shows that people power works.”

She added: “Thousands of ordinary people across the country backed our fight against Shell and their support means we stay independent and can keep holding Big Oil to account.”

“We’ve ensured not a penny of our supporters’ money will go to Shell and all funds raised will be used to continue campaigning against the fossil fuel industry and other big polluters.”

Shell added Tuesday that “the right to protest is fundamental and has never been at issue.”

Shell argued the boarding was illegal and risked the lives of crew.

Shell originally sought $2.1 million in damages, mainly linked to costs incurred by subcontractor Fluor, which was responsible for building and transporting the platform to the Penguins field, close to the Scottish Shetland Islands in the North Sea.