San Diego, US — The case of a group of Indonesian fishers who sued US tuna brand, alleging forced labor, will move forward, according to a judgment released by the Southern California federal district court on Wednesday (12/11). The case, which cites years of research from the Greenpeace global network, alleges years of forced labor while catching fish sold by the tuna brand Bumble Bee.
Syafi’i, a plaintiff in the case, said: “I’m actually in tears. I am happy and overwhelmed. This gives me hope for justice for me and my fellow plaintiffs as we struggle for justice and change for the better. Our fight and sacrifice are not in vain in order to get justice for all of the fishers. I remain steadfast, strong, and enthusiastic.”
The four fishers filed suit against Bumble Bee in March 2025 under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). Investigations and supply chain research from the Greenpeace global network’s Beyond Seafood fisheries campaigns were used by the litigants’ attorneys to support this complaint. It is believed to be the first case of its kind against the seafood industry in the US, and one of only a few TVPRA supply chain cases to move past the motion to dismiss stage.
Sari Heidenreich, Senior Human Rights Advisor, Greenpeace USA, said: “This is a historic moment and an incredible victory for the fishers and the ocean. By allowing this case to move ahead, the court has given these fishers’ voices the space they deserve. We celebrate that the fishers will be allowed their day in court, recognizing this is monumental — not only for these four men, who are brave enough to stand up to a giant US corporation — but for hundreds of thousands of fishers globally.”
The court ruled that the fishers presented sufficient allegations of forced labor as defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, noting that Bumble Bee did not contest the fishers were subject to forced labor. The court also found that Bumble Bee “likely had ‘notice about the prevalence’ of forced labor on the vessels from which it sourced tuna, ‘failed to take adequate steps to train staff in order to prevent its occurrence,’” had an “active role in obtaining albacore tuna from the vessels on which Plaintiffs were subject to forced labor,” and resold the tuna for profit.
Heidenreich continued: “This ruling once again affirms that seafood companies have a responsibility to ensure the products they sell — including tuna that they market for unsuspecting consumers to pack for lunch — were not produced with the abhorrent crimes of forced labor and modern slavery. Allegations as horrific as those in the suit should never happen to these fishers or anyone else. Seafood companies cannot continue to put profits over all else; they cannot continue this rabid exploitation of workers, the oceans, and marine life. They must act now to address the root causes of modern slavery and end isolation at sea. The global Greenpeace network’s Beyond Seafood Campaign has been working for over a decade to hold Big Seafood to account. It is an affirmation of the importance of this work that the campaign’s reports documenting these abuses were cited by the judge in her ruling.”
The judge’s ruling also cited numerous reports from Greenpeace East Asia and Greenpeace Southeast Asia as evidence that the company knew or should have known about forced labor on its supplying vessels. [1]
Arifsyah Nasution, Global Project Lead for Beyond Seafood Campaign, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said: “With this ruling, all of Big Seafood is officially on notice: exploitation at sea could land you in court at home. It is well known that physical violence, excessive working hours, and lack of payment — all conditions alleged in this lawsuit — are prevalent in the fishing industry and exacerbated by the overexploitation of our oceans.”
The Greenpeace global network’s Beyond Seafood Campaign has called for concerted action by all stakeholders and governments along the seafood supply chain to end isolation at sea. This includes:
Free, accessible, and secure Wi-Fi on all fishing vessels to allow fishers to have contact with their families, unions, and governments.
Capping time at sea at three months to reduce the risk of human rights abuse, forced labor, and human trafficking.
100% human or electronic observer coverage to ensure vital data on catch composition, bycatch, interactions with protected species, and overall fishing practices are reported by independent and impartial parties.
Freedom of association and access to unions for workers are key enabling rights to ensure a strong worker voice and protections across the various stages of the supply chain. It is essential to have accessible grievance mechanisms, including those available at sea, that are secure and responsive. These mechanisms should allow workers to raise issues as they arise, and companies must respond promptly, providing remedies and directly addressing the root causes of the problems.
The lawsuit, Akhmad v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC, No. 3:25-cv-00583, was filed in March 2025 in U.S. federal court in San Diego, California, and is currently before chief judge Cynthia Bashant. In addition to Greenpeace Inc., the plaintiffs in the suit are represented by the law firms of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes LLP.
While world leaders rode on their private planes to Brazil to attend COP30, there is a 16-year-old in the town of Pandan in Catanduanes, Philippines, frantically texting her teacher that she could not attend class the next week. This, after their house got flattened by Super Typhoon Uwan’s (Fung-Wong) 185-kph winds that blew through the island last November 10. Her family lives along the coast of the island and had to evacuate in the middle of the typhoon in fear of storm surge. They came back to their house when the winds started to dwindle, but Uwan wasn’t done yet. As the last gales of the typhoon whipped, their roof flew away and they were left with no choice but to wait out the storm without cover. When it was finally over, their house was no more.
For the people of Catanduanes, stories like these are normal. Extreme weather is deeply intertwined in our lives, and we have grown accustomed to the neverending cycle of destruction and rebuilding; of preparing for the worst and accepting the reality that typhoons will come, no matter how much we pray that they don’t. In 2020, there was Rolly (Goni), in 2024 Pepito (Man-yi), this year, Uwan. In the next years, more typhoons with names to be remembered in fear.
When the Loss and Damage Fund was operationalized during last year’s COP29, and the Philippines named chair of the board months later, it felt like hope. Finally, we have funding for the climate vulnerable communities who face the worst extreme weather events. But the development is slow. World leaders are still arguing over who should pay for what and oil executives are still denying liability while a growing population is scrambling to survive this fossil fuel-caused climate chaos.
For Filipinos, the issue of climate funding is especially relevant now. This year’s rainy and typhoon seasons uncovered billions of dollars worth of corruption. Controversial flood control projects that were never finished or done with poor quality despite an over budget have been the cause of anger and sparked a series of protests across the country. Just a week before Uwan entered the Philippines, the provinces of Cebu and Negros were badly hit by Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi) and hundreds have died due to severe flooding. Locals are blaming faulty flood control infrastructure and lack of leadership.
The broad strokes of climate action happen in climate conferences like COP, where big decisions like the creation of the Loss and Damage Fund or the Paris Agreement happen. But these big plans feel distant to the plight of those living in vulnerability. Every year in COP, we see wealthy carbon emitting nations and their Big Oil friends try to rid themselves of responsibility; meanwhile children in far-flung islands are crying amidst their ruined homes.
Over the course of Uwan’s 7-hour rampage, I found myself staring at the coconut tree in my backyard. This sturdy and towering tree, an icon for strength and function for Filipinos, swaying with the wind while staying rooted to the ground. The many disasters that hit the Philippines have made us resilient just like this tree, but with this innate need to survive came an acceptance that there is nothing else that can help us but each other. Every year we are failed by the greed of those who profit from ruining the planet, and we are left to fend for ourselves when calamity hits. We are tired of rebuilding our lives, but what else can we do but try to survive?
As negotiations for COP30 begin, we can only hope that our leaders remember the people who are living the reality that they deem hypothetical. The people who, despite not understanding the intricacies of global talks, know that typhoons are becoming fiercer every year, and are growing weary of fighting to survive. Those who stand to represent us should be reminded that the climate crisis does not know borders or wars — what affects us, affects everyone. And while our typhoon-stricken lives may seem so far removed from the looming halls of government buildings and corporate towers, may they be reminded that we live on the same planet and there is nowhere else for us to live but here.
Belém, Brasil –More than 5,000 people aboard around 200 vessels sailed together in the waters of Belém during COP30, to demonstrate against false climate solutions, such as carbon markets, and show that the answer to a sustainable world lies not with big polluters or nature destroyers, but within the ancestral knowledges and practices from Indigenous Peoples, coastal and local communities.
Greenpeace joined the flotilla with the Rainbow Warrior, which has been docked at the Federal University of Pará during COP30. The event included people from 60 countries, representing the strength and unity of civil society and Indigenous organisations from different nations.
Carolina Pasquali, Executive Director, Greenpeace Brazil said: “The thousands of people in the flotilla today are showing the strength of a unified global movement — communities who have been impacted by extreme weather events and by companies profiting from the destruction of our planet, Indigenous Peoples who have been fighting for generations for their rights, their lands and the forest, and civil society demanding real action from world leaders and negotiators at COP. This must be the COP of action. Action for the climate, action for forests, action for people,”
Indigenous Leaders and community representatives from several countries joined the flotilla aboard the Rainbow Warrior, such as Trixy Sumabal Elle, representing climate impacted communities from the Philippines, Fransiska Rosari Clarita You, Indigenous Youth from Papua, Indonesia, Chief Marcos Xukuru, from the Xukuru people of the state of Pernambuco, and Luene Karipuna, Indigenous Leader from the state of Amapá in Brazil. A group representing the Movement of people affected by the construction of dams was also onboard.
Luene Karipuna, Indigenous Leader said: “We are here at COP30 to tell people that the answer is us Indigenous Peoples, our ancestral knowledge and the protection of our lands. Our territory is impacted by oil exploration in the Amazon and from the lack of respect for Indigenous rights. We need COP to discuss an energy transition to eliminate fossil fuels. This is a COP that needs decisions.”
“We need to put the Indigenous lands at the centre of the debate, protecting them as a climate policy. The world needs to understand that the answer to the climate crisis is in the Indigenous territories and that we have the solutions. We have been living on Earth for thousands of years without destroying it.”
At COP30, Greenpeace is calling for a Global Response Plan to address the 1.5°C ambition gap and accelerate emissions reductions in this critical decade; a new, dedicated 5-year Forest Action Plan to end deforestation by 2030; and the establishment of a new standing UNFCCC agenda item to drive NCQG delivery, particularly scaling-up public finance from developed countries, and advance polluter-pays taxation to unlock scaled-up public finance for developing countries.
Belém, Brazil – The International Energy Agency has released their latest World Energy Outlook report today affirming that a renewable energy transition is underway and could solve the climate crisis along with other societal needs, but governments must urgently speed up.
Kaisa Kosonen, Senior Policy Advisor, Greenpeace Nordic said: “This report clearly shows we still have a choice: a path still exists to avoid the worst of climate disasters by defending the Paris Agreement 1.5°C warming limit and it comes with many benefits. That’s the path governments in Belém must take, by agreeing on a roadmap for a fair fossil fuel phase out.”
“The great news here is that solar, wind and energy smart solutions are ready to deliver faster CO2 cuts than what countries currently assume in their pledged climate targets. So the key is to push fossil fuels out of the way, and eliminate barriers related to grids, storage and climate finance gaps.”
“Regardless of which future scenario you looked at, the winners are clear. The future will be increasingly powered by cheap, abundant renewable energy, coupled with electrification. But we need to speed up and scale up and governments at COP30 must now agree on a global response plan to urgently bridge the 1.5°C ambition gap.”
“The Trump administration and his fossil fuel cronies, in trying to turn back the time, will fail. The fossil fuel peak is still coming regardless of the US’s bullying tactics towards the IEA to backtrack in their analysis.”
“A scenario where solar PV addition rates would stall and electric vehicle market share plateau after a decade is just not credible. The US might succeed in shooting themselves in the foot, by slowing down their own speed and killing their own clean energy jobs, but globally the solar boom will continue, driving rapid clean energy expansion.”
Greenpeace is at COP30 in Belém, calling for urgent action to keep the 1.5°C goal within reach, including drastic emissions cuts and agreeing on an implementation plan to end forest destruction by 2030.
ENDS
Key messages:
Renewables keep setting new records, and they’re growing faster than any other major energy source in all scenarios, led by solar.
Solar and wind are ready to deliver much more than what countries currently anticipate in their targets. But it’s important to overcome barriers related to permitting and grids.
As most of next decade’s energy consumption growth occurs where solar irradiation is highest, we have a great match.
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