Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) has filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International, seeking to stop the environmental organisation from protesting at its offshore and onshore facilities around the world.
The company is demanding US$8.6 million in damages and an injunction from the High Court in London.
The lawsuit is a response to a peaceful protest by Greenpeace International in January and February this year, when six activists occupied a moving oil platform in the North Sea, called the Penguins floating production storage and offloading unit.
The activists were calling on Shell to stop drilling for new oil and gas, and to pay for the climate loss and damage caused by its fossil fuel operations.
The Penguins platform is the first new operated vessel for Shell in the northern North Sea for 30 years. It is expected to produce up to 45,000 barrels of oil per day, and could open up new areas for exploration.
Shell announced record annual profits of nearly US$40 billion during the protest.
Greenpeace has condemned the lawsuit as an intimidation tactic and a bid to silence the growing dissent over Shell’s climate policies.
The environmental group claims that Shell’s chief executive, Wael Sawan, has abandoned any pretence of supporting a transition to renewables, and is instead doubling down on fossil fuel investment.
Among the activists named in the lawsuit is Yeb Saño, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, who has personally experienced the devastation of climate change in his home country, the Philippines.
Saño said he will not "stop fighting" for climate justice, and urged Shell to take accountability for its actions.