A hybrid event at Climate Week NYC with Greenpeace International, BankTrack and others

A decade ago, a public letter from over 500 organisations asked banks to halt funding to the Dakota Access Pipeline due to concerns about the pipeline’s trajectory and potential threats to air and water resources. This letter triggered two massive SLAPP lawsuits brought by DAPL’s owner, Energy Transfer. The first targeted BankTrack, which organised the sign-on letter, as well as Greenpeace organisations, individual activists, and others. After this case failed, another SLAPP was filed in North Dakota state court, where three Greenpeace organisations were held liable for $345 million as a result of their efforts to show solidarity with the Indigenous-led resistance at Standing Rock. It’s hard to escape the idea that Energy Transfer is punishing free speech – and the effect on our movements has been chilling.

This event brings together people and organisations who spoke up and joined together to send the letter expressing concerns to the banks that financed the pipeline. As civic space comes under attack and protecting free speech and protest is more important than ever, this is a space to design how we can fight attempts by the fossil fuel industry to silence advocacy in support of Indigenous Peoples rights, water protection and climate justice.