Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is one of the Hollywood stars to have signed an open letter to the CEO of ... [+] Shell oil condemning the company's lawsuit against Greenpeace.
WireImageHollywood celebrities including Benedict Cumberbatch, Emma Thompson, Simon Pegg and Bella Ramsey have signed an open letter calling on oil giant Shell to drop its lawsuit against environmental charity Greenpeace, claiming the firm is attempting to silence protest.
Describing Shell's $2.1 million lawsuit against the NGO as "outrageous and frankly dangerous," the 37 signatories to the letter, which also include campaigner Greta Thunberg, environmentalist Bill McKibben and writer George Monbiot, say the case is "one of the biggest attacks on Greenpeace’s right to protest in the organisation’s 53-year history."
"You may believe that this lawsuit will dissuade all those justifiably alarmed by the impact your industry is having on the planet and the people who live on it from expressing their dissent through protest," the letter to Shell's CEO Wael Sawan reads. "On the contrary, it makes your company look callous and vindictive and will serve only to increase support for organisations like Greenpeace who seek to hold you to account."
The lawsuit was initiated by Shell last November in response to a protest in which activists from the charity boarded a moving oil rig belonging to the firm. The case has become known as the "Cousin Greg" lawsuit, recalling a scene in HBO show Succession in which a character threatens to sue the charity.
MORE FROM FORBESHow Much Do Wind Turbines Affect U.S. House Prices? You Might Be SurprisedBy David VetterShell has claimed its action against Greenpeace is about safety, saying it is intended to cover the costs of court injunctions meant to prevent activists from boarding its vessels. "Our intent has been misrepresented," a Shell spokesperson said in November. "This is simply about preventing activities at sea which could endanger peoples’ livesâ€"as happened last yearâ€"nothing more."
Greenpeace has said Shell had offered to reduce its claim to $1.4m if the charity agreed not to carry out further protests at oil and gas infrastructure. In a counter-offer, the charity pledged that it would desist from protesting if Shell adhered to a 2021 order from a Dutch court that the firm should cut its emissions 45% by 2030. Shell has appealed that ruling.
The open letter brings further details about the case to light, describing how one defendant, Yeb Saño, became a Greenpeace activist following the destruction of his hometown, Tacloban in the Philippines, by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. The letter makes reference to scientific evidence "suggesting that fossil fuel-driven climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of storms."
MORE FROM FORBESSpaceX, Google Join Forces To Fight Planet-Killing Threat From OrbitBy David VetterThe signatories further note with concern the Shell CEO's strategic decision to cut the firm's emissions reduction targets and move the company back towards its core oil and gas business. "Your decision to pivot in the name of profit back towards increasing oil and gas production will not only tie households to expensive energy bills for longer, but endanger the future of everyone on earth," the letters states, adding that "those who have done the least to contribute to the crisis [are being] hit first and worst."
Shell's recent strategy shift can be viewed as part of a defiant about-face by an oil industry which, for some years, paid lip service to the need for global decarbonization and a move away from fossil fuels. This broader realignment was emphasized last month when Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told a boisterous CERAWeek conference that oil majors should "abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas."
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