Texas-based company Energy Transfer accused Greenpeace of defamation and orchestrating criminal behaviour in relation to the high-profile protest movement in 2016 and 2017 against the Dakota Access pipeline, which was opposed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others.

A jury in North Dakota yesterday ruled in favour of Energy Transfer and found Greenpeace’s US entities, as well as Greenpeace International, liable for more than $660 million (around €610 million or £510 million).

Greenpeace has said it will appeal the ruling through the US courts, alleging that it was denied a fair trial, including because more than half of the jurors in the case had links to the fossil fuel industry.

The environmental group also last month launched its own lawsuit against Energy Transfer in a Dutch court, seeking to use the EU’s Anti-SLAPP Directive to recover all damages and costs it has suffered as a result of the US litigation.

Mads Christensen, Greenpeace International’s executive director, said: “The previous Trump administration spent four years dismantling protections for clean air, water, and Indigenous sovereignty, and now along with its allies wants to finish the job by silencing protest.”

Sushma Raman, interim executive director of Greenpeace USA, said: “This case should alarm everyone, no matter their political inclinations. It’s part of a renewed push by corporations to weaponise our courts to silence dissent.

“We should all be concerned about the future of the First Amendment, and lawsuits like this aimed at destroying our rights to peaceful protest and free speech.

“These rights are critical for any work toward ensuring justice — and that’s why we will continue fighting back together, in solidarity.

“While Big Oil bullies can try to stop a single group, they can’t stop a movement.”

Kristin Casper, general counsel of Greenpeace International, added: “Energy Transfer hasn’t heard the last of us in this fight. We’re just getting started with our anti-SLAPP lawsuit against Energy Transfer’s attacks on free speech and peaceful protest.

“We will see Energy Transfer in court this July in the Netherlands. We will not back down. We will not be silenced.”