Shell, Greenpeace Settle Lawsuit Over Vessel Boarding

Shell Plc and Greenpeace reached an out-of-court settlement over a legal dispute that centered on climate activists boarding and occupying a Shell offshore vessel in the U.K. North Sea for 13 days.

The London-based oil giant was claiming damages from Greenpeace in response to the 2023 protest. Shell said it was seeking about $900,000 (£705,993), while Greenpeace said it had been facing as much as $11 million in damages and costs from the suit.

After a year of legal developments, Greenpeace agreed to pay £300,000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and committed to not protest at four Shell offshore facilities in the region, according to a statement from the group on Tuesday.

The U.K. North Sea has become a battleground between climate activists, who say any fossil fuel developments are contrary to the country’s emissions pledges, and companies that still see profitable opportunities to tap new discoveries as oil and gas continue to be consumed for decades to come.

“For Shell, the right to protest is fundamental and has never been at issue,” the company said in a statement. “Instead, this case was about an illegal boarding by protesters which a High Court judge described as ‘putting their lives and, indirectly, the lives of the crew at risk’.”

As well as being the target of disruptive protests, Shell is also facing off in a Scottish court against Greenpeace, which is challenging the license of its Jackdaw gas development.

“Shell thought suing us for millions over a peaceful protest would intimidate us, but this case became a PR millstone tied around its neck,” Areeba Hamid, Co-Executive Director at Greenpeace UK, said in a statement. “With Greenpeace facing further legal battles around the world, we won’t stop campaigning until the fossil fuel industry stops drilling and starts paying for the damage it is causing to people and planet.”