“Activism is not a crime.”

This message was unveiled by Greenpeace Spain in Valencia before 11 activists faced an unprecedented trial over a 2021 protest against a fossil gas shipment at the Port of Sagunto. This was also a message emphatically affirmed by the Spanish court’s quick rejection of the harsh punishments sought by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Amid a global wave of attacks on the rights to free speech and protest, the Public Prosecutor’s Office initially sought five years in prison for 11 of the Greenpeace activists involved in a peaceful October 2021 protest against fossil gas involving Greenpeace ship MY Esperanza, one of the harshest sentences ever demanded in Europe for peaceful environmental protest. The demand was reduced to two and a half years at trial, but this remained a disproportionate punishment apparently intended to deter climate action. The court’s judgment on 6 October  2026 rejected the charge of aggravated public disorder, finding the prosecution had failed to prove the activists engaged in any violence or intimidation that altered public peace.  

To learn more about the Sagunto trial, the peaceful protest, and the global implications of this moment, we spoke with Daniel Simons, Greenpeace International Senior Legal Counsel Strategic Defence, who has been working on the case since 2021:

Why did the climate activists protest at the Port of Sagunto?

Daniel Simons: In October 2021, the largest Greenpeace ship at the time, the Esperanza, entered the Port of Sagunto to protest the dangers of fracked fossil gas by blocking a massive LNG tanker, the Merchant, from arriving. The ship had come from the United States carrying 138,000 cubic meters of fossil gas, roughly 41 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of compressed methane, extracted through fracking, one of the most environmentally damaging extraction techniques.

The non-violent protest was undertaken by highly-disciplined activists who maintained clear, calm communication with local maritime and port authorities throughout. In a peaceful act of resistance, one activist chained himself to the Esperanza’s anchor to delay the tanker’s arrival into port. He held out for 12 hours before Spain’s Civil Guard boarded the ship, cut the anchor chains, and brought it to port. No one was injured for the duration of the action.

On what basis did the Spanish government seek to punish the Sagunto activists?

Initially, in 2022, the Spanish government had imposed fines of more than €160,000 for this action for obstructing another vessel and the Esperanza’s failure to request pilotage and towing services in the Port of Sagunto. These fines are still being appealed. Then, in a move that drew international attention for its severity, Spain’s Public Prosecutor charged each individual with aggravated public disorder and sought a 5-year prison sentence, an unprecedented punishment for peaceful climate action in Europe.   

How did the judge rule? 

A trial was held before a single judge on 23 September, which included testimony from the 11 defendants. In a judgment returned on 6 October, the court rejected the charge of aggravated public disorder, finding the prosecution had failed to prove the activists engaged in any violence or intimidation that altered public peace.  

By the conclusion of the trial, it was clear that there was no basis for the unprecedented punishment sought. Not only did police officers and the shipping agent representing the tanker describe the action as peaceful, but the prosecutor even conceded that the demand for five years’ imprisonment was an error, since it exceeded the maximum penalty in force in 2021 (the law changed in 2023).

Why did the Sagunto trial draw interest from around the world? 

The Sagunto trial drew a large crowd in Valencia, including the crew from the Arctic Sunrise, a Greenpeace International delegation, the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, Michel Forst, and many journalists.

Here’s how Gina Romero, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, who sent a representative to the hearing, described the significance of the trial:

“The Sagunto case demonstrates how easily the legal system can be used to deter people from exercising a fundamental right, even when the law agrees in the end they did nothing wrong. It’s part of a broader, global pattern of using the legal system, criminal charges, punitive fines, and restrictive laws to shrink civic space. I will continue to raise the alarm and raise my voice to ensure that peaceful protest is not treated as a crime — in Spain or anywhere else.”

What happens next? 

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has the right to appeal the acquittal, though we hope it instead turns its attention towards those endangering, not defending, life on this planet. If needed, we will continue defending the activists through any further proceedings.

Have other Greenpeace activists faced harsh charges for peaceful climate action?

For more than 50 years, Greenpeace activists have engaged in peaceful protest on behalf of people and planet. In doing so, Greenpeace organisations and activists have sometimes found themselves facing fines and criminalisation. The use of the court system by oligarchs and corporate polluters and their enablers in government to deter protest has made such challenges more common in recent years, with more than 30 Greenpeace activists facing various criminal proceedings in Spain alone for taking part in protests.

In the rare instances when activists have found themselves detained for more than a few days — such as the case of the Arctic 30, who were held in pre-trial detention for two months in Russia after a nonviolent action against Arctic oil drilling — people from all over the world have rallied in support, not just for the activists but for the rights they are exercising. 

Why are the rights to free speech and protest under attack?

That is a good question. Part of it may be the Cassandra complex, where governments punish climate activists for their uncomfortable, but science-based message. In some countries, more sinister motives are at play. Industries that have a lot at stake know that protest works, and invest heavily in curbing dissent, reframing protesters as a security threat, and shaping laws so that peaceful but disruptive protests can be prosecuted. As more countries slide into autocracy, including some established democracies, repression of civil society becomes a central tool for government actors and the wealthy elites that back them to maintain their profits and power.

Lindsay Bigda is Deputy Communications Lead for Greenpeace’s Time to Resist programme, focusing on abusive lawsuits used to silence public participation.

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The human body is roughly 71% water. If you look at my arm, you will see a tattoo of the Drava River. A map from the 19th-century, when it was still an interconnected network of channels weaving across the whole region. The tattoo wraps around my arm at a point marking 71% of the way up my body. For me, it is a reminder that water is the foundation of all human life, and a symbol of my deep, unbreakable connection to this river.

I am an artist based in Northern Croatia, next to the Drava river. I grew up here and became an eco-artist, exploring creativity and sustainability, emerging from the deep connection I have to nature here. But unfortunately, this unique ecological paradise could soon be transformed into an industrial zone, as vast  factory farms have started popping up across the region.

The “Amazon of Europe” is under threat from Big Ag

For me “The Amazon of Europe” is not just a catchy slogan. This stretch of the Drava River is part of a cross-border UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, spanning multiple countries. It is a truly extraordinary, vibrant, and biologically diverse ecosystem. At the point where the Drava meets the Mura River, it forms a unique landscape: a mosaic of lush marshes, gravel banks, and wetland habitats with abundant flora and fauna. As an ornithological reserve, it acts as a vital stopover for migratory birds, with a vivid aerial life every spring and autumn. It is home to iconic species like the majestic white-tailed eagle, the black stork and terns.    

The Drava has been part of my daily life for as long as I can remember. Growing up here, the river was the anchor of our existence. In summer, we cooled off in its waters, relaxed on its banks, paddled, and kayaked. Many locals fish here, putting food from the river directly onto their family tables.

As an artist, I am fascinated by our local tradition of naive art, a 20th century movement associated primarily with self-taught artists who broadened access to artistic expression beyond academic and institutional circles. In many of these artworks, the river and its surrounding wildlife appear as recurring and central motifs representing its centrality to the lives of local people. The river is not merely part of our cultural identity; it has shaped the history, livelihoods and social fabric of our communities – from milling and gold panning to fishing, transport and other river-based activities.

A monster on the riverbank: 1.8 million chickens and massive pollution

It is horrifying to realize what is being planned for our home. A few hundred meters from the banks of this pristine river, a colossal industrial chicken farm is under construction.

The environmental impact assessment states that an astonishing 1.8 million chickens will pass through this factory farm every year on their way to slaughter, generating more than a million liters of wastewater annually. These numbers are staggering. A facility of this scale has no place anywhere, let alone right next to a protected biosphere reserve. Yet, shockingly, this site is not next to just one reserve; seven protected areas exist within 2km of the farm. If a facility of this size can be built so close to so many vital reserves, then the term ‘protected area’ is meaningless.

For those of us who live here, the river and its ecosystem are woven into our daily lives. Building a giant factory farm so close to the riverbank threatens to sever that bond forever, replacing clean water and thriving habitats with industrial waste.

Ordinary people organising resistance

When we first discovered these plans, a few of us in the community started asking questions and gathering information. Step by step, those initial inquiries turned into organized resistance.

Together, we formed Građanska Inicijativa Legrad – Donja Dubrava. We are just a small group of ordinary citizens from different backgrounds, united by our love for the Drava River to protect our land. Some organise events, others research data, consult with lawyers, liaise with local authorities, or deliver public speeches.

None of us expected to find ourselves in the middle of a high-stakes campaign like this. We didn’t seek out conflict or public attention. Most of us feel uncomfortable speaking in public. But we could not sit back and watch them destroy the place we love. We stepped into the spotlight because we know that if we don’t stand up for our home now, tomorrow will be too late.

That is why we have been organising protests, festivals, and events. And a few months ago, we organised a flashmob beside the confluence of the Mura and Drava Rivers, a natural classroom for understanding river dynamics. We formed a giant SOS sign there.  Because our river is in danger, and we need your help.

Factory farms are parachuting corporate power onto rural communities

Our story in Legrad – Donja Dubrava is not an isolated case. Across Croatia, dozens of rural communities are facing the same threat.

In the nearby village of Apatija, another giant factory farm is being planned, and forced onto local residents. Around 160 km south near the city of Sisak, plans for a colossal mega-project aiming to produce around 100 million chickens a year (four times Croatia’s annual production) were met with fierce local resistance, successfully halting parts of the development. It proves that when communities unite, people power works, and we will not rest until these projects are stopped for good. 

The pattern is glaringly obvious: wealthy corporations and billionaire executives parachute massive, polluting projects onto rural communities, expecting us to quietly suffer the consequences while they extract profit.

This is not just a series of isolated local conflicts; it is a systemic problem that is happening all over the world and it demands systemic solutions. That starts by pushing decision-makers to stop any new industrial livestock expansion from happening.

Standing up for the future of our waters

We are not lawyers, scientific experts, or professional activists. We are simply local people who have been let down by the system and forced to make a stand. It is time for our representatives to step up and defend our interests over corporate profits.

We want the confluence of Mura and Drava to remain as it is today: clean, wild, and filled with life. Where future generations  find joy and peace in its waters. For local artists to keep painting its landscapes and our children to grow up swimming in the river after school and playing on its shores, living in harmony with the ecosystem.

That is why we fight, and that is why we will not back down. Please stand in solidarity with us: help us save the Drava!

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Kristina Pongrac is an artist and local environmental defender from the Drava region in Croatia. As a member of Građanska Inicijativa Legrad – Donja Dubrava, her work explores the intersection of nature protection, folk art, and grassroots community resistance. Learn more about Kristina’s work here.

The clearest message from the Pacific Pre-COP was that understanding the climate crisis is no longer the challenge. Acting with the urgency it demands is.

Last Tuesday, a handful of Pre-COP delegates visited the Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu, one of the most climate-vulnerable places on Earth. There, they saw firsthand the devastating effects of the climate crisis on the small atoll-nation. They heard from communities whose futures depend on decisions made far beyond their shores, and from children asking them to remember those who will live with the consequences. 

Students from the Nadi Centre for Special Education appealed to the delegates: “We want to grow up in a safe Fiji, in a safe Pacific. Leaders, when you make decisions about climate change, please remember us.”

That appeal must travel with Australia, Türkiye, and every delegation heading to COP31 in Antalya. The decisions ahead will shape whether these children can grow up with safe homes, access to water and traditional foods, and continued connection to their culture.

For the Pacific, the climate crisis is a lived reality

The Pacific’s moral authority comes from the clarity with which its people and leaders connect climate decisions to their real and lived consequences. 1.5°C is not just a goal here — it is a survival line that determines whether communities can remain on their land, whether freshwater is secure and whether children can inherit the places that hold their histories.

But Pacific leadership also comes from proposing solutions and demanding accountability. The region is doing the work of protecting communities while asking those with greater resources and responsibility to do theirs. Governments cannot acknowledge what is happening to these communities, promise solidarity and then continue expanding the fossil fuels putting their futures at risk.

For Tuvalu, that work is about securing the survival of an entire nation. Prime Minister Feleti Teo told the plenary: “Leaders had the opportunity to witness firsthand the fragile future of Tuvalu and what we are doing to ensure that we survive as a nation.” His words make clear that Tuvalu is already acting to protect its future. It needs the world to act with the same urgency.

It is not fair that those who have contributed least to the climate crisis are the ones facing the greatest price, while those most responsible continue with business as usual.

Australia’s credibility is on the line

For Australia, these messages present a direct test of credibility. As it prepares to lead COP31 negotiations alongside Türkiye’s presidency, its ability to drive ambitious outcomes will be tested by the choices it makes at home.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the plenary: “And we must turn the unity which is here into action.”

Australia should be held to that standard. It cannot credibly champion 1.5°C on the global stage while expanding the fossil fuel production that undermines that goal at home. Asking Pacific communities to trust its climate leadership while adding fuel to the crisis threatening their survival is political double talk.

Australia’s renewable energy transition and support for its Pacific family matters, but does not offset the consequences of expanding coal and gas production at home. To close the credibility gap, Australia needs a national roadmap to fairly phase out fossil fuels at home, including a managed wind-down of production for export, with support for workers and communities. A government asking others to make difficult decisions must show it is prepared to clean up its own backyard.

While the Electrification Pledge is a welcome commitment, its success will be measured by whether renewable electricity displaces fossil fuels, reduces emissions and reaches people who need it. 

The work between now and Antalya

The weeks between now and Antalya must turn this urgency into action. At the centre of that work must be building agreement on how countries will move to a just transition away from fossil fuels at a pace consistent with keeping 1.5°C alive, and scaled up, accessible climate finance.

Governments must also prepare for the next global assessment of climate progress: an opportunity to take an honest look at whether their collective efforts are working and what more they must do. That assessment must be guided by the latest science and lead to stronger action. 

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Wale captured the frustration: “We face a patronizing paradox where the severity of our crisis is acknowledged but the solutions are diluted, watered down.”

Australia has a responsibility to ensure Pacific priorities survive the negotiations with their ambition intact. That means building support for practical plans to phase out fossil fuels fairly, accelerate renewable energy that replaces them and deliver deeper emissions cuts. It also means securing a substantial increase in finance so developing countries can undertake that transition and protect their communities.

The Pacific has set the standard. Australia must now arrive in Antalya prepared to meet it, with the credibility to ask others to do the same.

Jasper Inventor is the Deputy International Program Director for Greenpeace International

Join Greenpeace and Tactical Tech online on 15 October 2026 to explore how non-profits can respond to AI, misinformation and threats to democracy.

Values-based non-profit organisations, like those in the Greenpeace network, rely on technology to campaign, connect with supporters and deliver their work. But their resources and digital capabilities vary, and they face difficult choices about cybersecurity, cost and the impact of the tools they use.

At the same time, we face the ethical and environmental challenges of artificial intelligence (AI), expanding data centres and the power of Big Tech. These sit alongside financial pressures, misinformation and threats to democracy, including right-wing populism, fascism and growing restrictions on speaking out and organising. The question is not simply how to adopt more technology, but how to choose tools that serve people and the planet, protect rights and reduce dependence on powerful tech companies.

This is why we chose “Leveraging our collective power in times of democratic crisis, AI and misinformation” as the theme of Greenpeace’s third digital transformation conference for non-profits, taking place online on Thursday 15 October 2026. The conference will bring together people from civil society, academia and international development to discuss how we can collectively address these challenges.

Organised in collaboration with Tactical Tech, the 2026 Greenpeace-hosted digital transformation conference will explore how technology can support our work, what campaigning, engagement and fundraising teams need from it, and how to shape a technology strategy in a fast-moving world. The programme will also include an interactive workshop that will inform a report on the use of technology in non-profit organisations, which will be sent to all participants.

A safe space for non-profits and values based organisations 

Building on the previous events in 2024 and 2025, the conference aims to provide a safe space for people working with technology in non-profit organisations to speak freely and exchange ideas about shared challenges. It will explore what civil society organisations can build together and how to reduce dependence on commercial technology providers.

Participants will be asked to provide an organisational email address or other evidence of their affiliation as part of registration.

Sessions will cover:

• Current developments in technology for non-profits.
• How technology can support civil society in responding to threats to democracy, including AI-driven misinformation.
• What campaigning, engagement and fundraising teams need from technology.
• How to shape a technology strategy in a fast-moving world.
• Practical examples of using technology to support non-profit work.

Speakers and moderators will include colleagues from Aldeias SOS Portugal, Amnesty International, Loughborough University, Data Tank, Bertelsmann Foundation, Nethope, Tactical Tech, 350.org, Norwegian Refugee Council and various Greenpeace organisations.

Luca Tiralongo is Head of Digital Transformation, Maria Julia van Boekel Cheola Torres is a Digital Transformation Analyst and Priscilla Chanda Chomba is Chief Technology Officer at Greenpeace International.

Valencia, Spain – A Valencia court has acquitted 11 Greenpeace activists who faced criminal charges over a 2021 peaceful protest against a fossil gas shipment at the Port of Sagunto.[1] The Public Prosecutor’s Office originally sought five years in prison for each activist, one of the harshest sentences ever demanded in Europe for peaceful environmental protest, before reducing its demand to two and a half years at trial. In today’s judgment, the court rejected the charge of aggravated public disorder, finding the prosecution had failed to prove the activists engaged in any violence or intimidation that altered public peace.  

Daniel Simons, Senior Legal Counsel Strategic Defence, Greenpeace International said: “This is a win for freedom of expression, and a rebuke to the attempt to repress peaceful climate activism. But an acquittal does not erase the years of anxiety, legal costs, and disruption to activists’ lives. This charge never should have been brought in the first place. The only threat to public order here was Europe’s continued reliance on fossil gas imports. We hope the prosecution does not appeal, and turns its attention towards those endangering, not defending life on this planet.”

Throughout the proceedings, witnesses for both the prosecution and the defence — including law enforcement officers, maritime authorities and independent journalists — confirmed that the 2021 action was strictly peaceful and did not cause harm to people, property or general traffic in the port. The disproportionate and severe punishment sought by the prosecution drew the attention of several United Nations Special Rapporteurs, some of whom attended the trial as observers.

Gina Romero, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, said: “The Sagunto case demonstrates how easily the legal system can be used to deter people from exercising a fundamental right, even when the law agrees in the end they did nothing wrong. It’s part of a broader, global pattern of using the legal system, criminal charges, punitive fines, and restrictive laws to shrink civic space. I will continue to raise the alarm and raise my voice to ensure that peaceful protest is not treated as a crime — in Spain or anywhere else.”

Ahead of the trial, Greenpeace Spain activists unveiled a giant, 530 square metre eye on the roof of Valencia’s Hemisfèric building with banners that read “The world is watching” and “Activism is not a crime.”

Jose Manuel Marraco, the Spanish attorney who defended the activists in court, said:
“I have been defending Greenpeace activists for 35 years, and it is an honour to do so. When people put themselves on the line to protect our planet, it is a generous act, not a criminal offence. The State should avoid the chilling effect that criminalisation and long-running proceedings have.”

ENDS

Photos and videos are available in the Greenpeace Media Library.

Notes:

[1] In October 2021, 11 activists blocked a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US for 12 hours at Valencia’s Port of Sagunto, calling for an immediate transition to renewable energy and warning against dependence on foreign gas imports. Greenpeace Spain carried out the action with activists of 18 different nationalities, from onboard the ship MY Esperanza. No one was injured, and communication with maritime and port authorities remained peaceful and respectful throughout. Fines of 160,000 euros related to the action have already been imposed by the Spanish government, which are still being appealed. 

Contacts: 

Lindsay Bigda, Deputy Communications Lead, Civic Resistance & Freedoms, Greenpeace International, +1 207-385-7924 (Americas), lbigda@greenpeace.org 

Virginia Rabal, Communications Manager, Greenpeace Spain, +91 444 14 00 (EMEA), prensa.es@greenpeace.org 

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org 

The opening of the Pre-COP31 climate meeting in Nadi, Fiji carried a clear message: the Pacific is not a backdrop for global climate diplomacy. It is where the credibility of that diplomacy will be tested.

The Pre-COP is an important milestone on the road to COP31 in Türkiye, where Australia will take the reins of the climate negotiations in partnership with the Pacific.

Pacific expectations for COP31 are straightforward: keep 1.5°C within reach, make climate finance accessible to frontline communities, and place the ocean at the heart of the climate agenda. For Pacific youth, 1.5°C is not an abstract target, it is a survival threshold. Their message was equally direct: the Pacific is not a sacrifice zone.

For Pacific communities, 1.5°C is a lifeline and “overshoot” is not a harmless technical scenario in which temperatures rise temporarily before being brought back down. Every fraction of a degree means greater loss and damage, more displacement, and deeper threats to cultures, livelihoods and sovereignty. Asking the Pacific to endure overshoot is asking communities to absorb harm for the continued emissions of polluters.

Australia’s Chris Bowen spoke of elevating Pacific voices, accelerating implementation and visiting Tuvalu with global leaders so they can witness what is at stake. These are welcome words. But they also expose Australia’s double talk.

Australia cannot call itself part of the Pacific family while continuing to approve or extend coal and gas projects that intensify the crisis threatening that family. It cannot use Tuvalu’s vulnerability to demonstrate climate urgency abroad while defending fossil-fuel expansion at home. Listening to Pacific stories creates a responsibility to act on them, not simply carry them into another conference speech.

COP31 must deliver more than dialogue, consensus and another action agenda. The Electrification target offered by the COP 31 Presidency is welcome, but it must not distract from the central issue: ending the extraction and expansion of fossil fuels. COP31 must establish a credible pathway for a just transition away from coal, oil and gas, one that protects workers and communities, expands access to affordable renewable energy, and supports countries that have contributed least to global warming.

The Pacific has contributed least to climate change, yet it continues to offer leadership, knowledge and solutions on the global stage. What it needs now is not sympathy, symbolism or strategic branding. It needs genuine solidarity expressed through ambitious climate action.

Pacific voices are clear. The question is whether Australia, and the rest of the world, will act accordingly.

Jasper Inventor is the Deputy International Program Director for Greenpeace International — speaking from Nadi, Fiji

The sleek panel entitled “Confronting the data center energy crisis” at New York Climate Week was in full swing, with tech executives painting a rosy vision of an AI-powered, sustainable future. Then, the polished presentation was interrupted when Josh Parker, head of sustainability at NVIDIA, was expressing how much NVIDIA cares about climate change. A Greenpeace activist called out to him: “If you really care, why don’t you focus on decarbonisation? If you really care, you should do more!”, holding a banner that read, “STOP GREENWASHING.”

Interestingly, besides the Greenpeace activist, three other disruptions occurred during this 35-minute discussion, with protestors calling on this company to stop the data centre boom accelerating the climate crisis and enabling warfare. As NVIDIA positions itself as the savior of the modern tech world, and Big Tech pushes Artificial Intelligence as the ultimate solution to climate change, there is an invisible elephant in the room: the dirty reality of AI itself.

The “unstoppable” NVIDIA

NVIDIA has been dominating the news headlines lately, sitting firmly at the center of the global AI frenzy. That prominence was on full display at the ALL-IN Summit a few days ago, a major gathering of tech leaders and investors. There, CEO Jensen Huang once again championed the rapid expansion of AI and the infrastructure powering it.

What we know about NVIDIA is that it is the most dominant chip design company in the world. Beyond cornering the GPU market, it provides the software, cloud services and infrastructure that power AI development—what CEO Jensen Huang calls “AI factories.” To mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars for AI expansion, NVIDIA is even acting as a kind of central bank for the industry, financing its customers and partnering with major investment firms, which it calls an investment of “ecosystem”.

Despite its massive expansion, NVIDIA has managed to cultivate a relatively innocent image, appearing less harmful than Big Tech peers like Meta and Amazon Web Service (AWS). That is primarily because, as a hardware company, NVIDIA lacked a public-facing presence, and has less direct contact with retail customers. Additionally, the company has strategically played the “good guy” in the industry, heralding narratives like “AI is a climate solution” to build and maintain a positive public perception.

But this is precisely why NVIDIA’s power is so dangerous, and why the company must face far greater scrutiny. With its immense market power and cash flow, NVIDIA acts as an invisible hand, exerting enormous influence over how, where and how rapidly the AI industry expands.

The dirty reality behind the AI gold rush

AI does not exist in some weightless, invisible “cloud.” Behind every content generated, rows of servers and chips are running at high speed inside data centers, consuming electricity, generating heat and relying on cooling systems, some of which also use vast amounts of water. 

And this is only one part of AI’s environmental footprint. Long before these machines are switched on, extracting raw materials, and manufacturing chips and servers, have already generated substantial greenhouse gas emissions. 

NVIDIA designs its chips but, as a “fabless” company, relies on outsourced manufacturers in East Asia: Taiwan handles over 90% of advanced chips, while South Korea produces over 60% of memory chips. The massive manufacturing has already generated substantial greenhouse gas emissions. According to a recent briefing from lead author Ketan Joshi, Greenpeace International and a consortium of civil society groups[1], NVIDIA’s disclosed Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions[2], largely from upstream manufacturing, have risen by 725% since 2020. 

This US-based company’s own data exposes a critical blind spot: its sustainability efforts appear to be primarily confined to its own facilities and offices. While the company boasts a 100% renewable energy target, this is estimated to cover less than 1% of its total emissions, effectively obscuring the massive environmental impact of its supply chain elsewhere.

Beyond the emissions generated by its upstream supply chain, the briefing estimates that the undisclosed downstream emissions from the use of NVIDIA’s sold chips could actually be nearly twice as high as those currently estimated upstream emissions. Yet NVIDIA has failed to provide a credible answer to this other side of its climate footprint. The company still does not disclose its absolute use-phase emissions, and its board recommended that shareholders reject a proposal calling for more comprehensive downstream disclosure.

How NVIDIA is playing around with greenwashing tricks

Based on an analysis of NVIDIA’s public statements and promotional materials, the same briefing finds that the company repeatedly presents AI as a climate solution, even as it helps drive the rapid expansion of energy-intensive AI infrastructure.

The briefing identifies three central narratives in NVIDIA’s climate messaging.

1. “AI will solve climate change”

NVIDIA argues that AI can improve energy efficiency, optimize power systems, accelerate climate innovation and ultimately be a “net benefit” for climate.

But many of these promised benefits remain hypothetical or weakly supported. Some are also disproportionately focused on narrow applications of traditional AI, rather than the energy-intensive generative AI responsible for much of today’s infrastructure growth.

By presenting potential climate benefits as likely, NVIDIA distracts attention from a more immediate reality: manufacturing and operating AI infrastructure is already consuming vast amounts of energy and generating significant emissions.

2. “Flexible data centres will help the grid”

Through initiatives such as its partnership with Emerald AI and Google, NVIDIA portrays flexible data centres as “shock absorbers” for the power grid. The idea is that data centres can temporarily reduce or shift their electricity use during periods of high demand, helping ease grid pressure and integrate more renewable energy.

However, flexible data centres can be useful, but its benefits are limited. It generally applies only during a small number of peak-stress hours and does not remove the enormous, around-the-clock electricity demand created by new data centres.

Research cited in the briefing suggests that demand response may cover less than 1% of the year in some high-growth scenarios. In certain electricity markets, it could even increase emissions if data centres shift their consumption toward hours when cheaper fossil-fuelled power is available.

In other words, making data centres slightly more flexible does not cancel out the impact of adding massive new loads to the grid.

3. “More efficient chips mean more sustainable AI”

NVIDIA frequently highlights improvements in “performance per watt,” more efficient AI infrastructure and the efficiency advantages of newer systems such as Blackwell[3].

But efficiency per computation is not the same as lower overall energy consumption.

As AI becomes cheaper and more capable, companies deploy it more widely and use it more intensively. This rebound effect (often called the Jevons paradox) can outweigh the energy savings achieved by each individual efficiency improvement.

The briefing finds that despite dramatic improvements in chip efficiency, the total power capacity of NVIDIA chips sold has continued to grow. The result is that absolute electricity consumption and associated emissions are still rising.

The pattern across all three narratives is clear: NVIDIA spotlights potential climate benefits, short-term grid flexibility and relative efficiency gains, while diverting attention from the absolute growth of AI’s energy demand and emissions. In doing so, climate action becomes a justification for expanding AI infrastructure, rather than a meaningful constraint on how that infrastructure is built and powered.

What meaningful climate action would actually look like

Well, there is only one real answer: direct emissions reduction at source. Anything less is greenwashing.

If NVIDIA wants to demonstrate genuine climate leadership, it cannot shirk its responsibility by claiming that it is merely a “fabless” company and that the emissions happen outside its business. We all know that is not how it should be done.

A few days ago, Jensen Huang once again made his attitude toward concerns about AI’s impacts clear. NVIDIA will stand firmly on the side of expansion, leveraging every available resource to accelerate its position in the AI race. Huang appears to believe that the market will eventually solve these problems by itself.

However, it is difficult to believe that such a successful businessman could be so naive (or should we call it complacent?). His comments send a worrying signal: NVIDIA intends to remain “unstoppable,” even if that means throwing more fuel on fires burning in other people’s homes.

AI infrastructure is already creating serious problems around the world. We see communities resisting data centre expansion in the United States and all over the globe. In East Asia, the manufacturing of AI chips is contributing to air pollution and water stress. People living with these impacts are no longer waiting for promises about what AI might achieve someday. They are waiting for meaningful action now.

Greenpeace International demands that NVIDIA moves towards real public good by taking the initial step of investing substantially in new and additional renewable energy worldwide. We also call on the company to expand its 100% renewable energy target beyond its own corporate operations to cover its entire manufacturing supply chain by 2030, including key production regions such as Taiwan and elsewhere in East Asia. Besides, NVIDIA must disclose a comprehensive Scope 3 emissions including use of sold chips in data centres.

This is not a big ask. It is the bare minimum that one of the greatest architects – and beneficiaries – of the AI frenzy CAN and MUST do.

Avex Li is Project lead for AI supply chain campaign in Greenpeace East Asia.

Notes:

[1] The briefing, written by analyst and lead author Ketan Joshi and a consortium of civil society groups, including Greenpeace International, Beyond Fossil Fuels, Friends of the Earth, Green Screen Coalition, Stand.Earth, Kairos Fellowship, and Climate Action Against Disinformation, is the first analysis of greenwashing-style statements commonly used by NVIDIA.

[2] Scope 3 emissions (Category 1-8) relate to measured greenhouse gas impacts outside the formal boundaries of the company’s activities, such as the emissions from manufacturing raw materials used in manufacturing, or the use of products sold by a company.

[3] Blackwell is a new generation of NVIDIA’s AI architecture, which NVIDIA claimed that “delivers the highest performance per watt to maximize revenue and the lowest token cost to maximize profit margins.” 

A protest supporting activists with a giant eye in Spain, documenting fires in Indonesia, and New York Climate Week, here are a few of our favourite images from Greenpeace work around the world this week.

Spain – Greenpeace Spain displays a 530 m² eye at the Hemisfèric in Valencia with the message “The world is watching” in support of the activists charged in the Sagunto case. More than 40 Greenpeace activists are taking part in this peaceful protest in solidarity with their 11 colleagues charged for another action in 2021 against a gas tanker in the port of Sagunto.

The trial begins this Wednesday at the Ciudad de la Justicia in Valencia: the prosecution is seeking five years in prison for each activist, one of the harshest sentences ever sought in Europe.

Brazil – A group of activists from Greenpeace Brazil built a House of Cards in front of the National Congress in Brasília to draw attention to the importance of the Senate vote for the 2026 Elections. The activity was part of the “Desembaralho do Senado” (Untangling the Senate Mess) project, from the #YourVoteMatters campaign.

Indonesia- Ali, a member of Greenpeace Indonesia’s Fire Prevention Team, holds a banner reading “Forest Not Fires” in the PT Bintang Harapan Palma (BHP) concession area in Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra, Indonesia.

The fires have contributed to recurring haze that affects communities in Palembang and Ogan Komering Ilir surrounding areas, with vulnerable groups such as children and older people facing increased risks of respiratory illnesses, including acute respiratory infections (ARI). Adding further challenges to communities’ daily lives and health.

New Zealand/Aotearoa – Thousands of New Zealanders got out in the streets on Saturday September 19th, to protest the controversial ‘Conservation Amendment Bill’, which would allow the exploitation of conservation land.

United States – To kick off Climate Week and UNGA, Greenpeace delivered a massive projection right on their doorstep at the AT&T building and Manhattan Bridge in New York City calling out the billionaire and autocrats of the world. The message is loud and clear: Defend your Freedoms + Defend your Rights = Defend the Planet. RESIST!

United States – A Greenpeace digital billboard truck circles The New York Times building during Climate Forward, calling out TMC CEO Gerard Barron’s ties to the Trump administration and his bid to sell deep sea mining as a climate solution. TMC is seeking to bypass the International Seabed Authority and fast-track U.S. permits through the Trump administration, even though deep sea mining has not been proven necessary or safe.

United States – Greenpeace USA activists brought “AI bubbles” to Wall Street to name the companies responsible for investing in hyperscale data centers across the country, which threaten communities, inflate financial markets, and consume massive quantities of gas – projected to add the greatest increase in carbon pollution in coming years.

Greenpeace has been a pioneer of photo activism for more than 50 years, and remains committed to bearing witness and exposing environmental injustice through the images we capture.

To see more Greenpeace photos and videos, please visit our Media Library.

New York, United States – The High-Level Event on Climate Action and the Just Transition – a final initiative of outgoing Secretary-General Guterres who has made climate a key element of his legacy – is a crucial moment to consolidate a response to the global climate and energy crises. 

Ahead of the annual UN climate conference COP31 in Türkiye and the biennial UN biodiversity conference COP17 in Armenia, Greenpeace is calling for governments to accelerate action towards the commitments agreed at COP28 in Dubai to transition away from fossil fuels and to end forest destruction by 2030. 

Jasper Inventor, Deputy Programme Director, Greenpeace International said: “We are overshooting our climate limits while fossil fuel companies are overflowing with profits. As those most responsible for the climate crisis continue to cash in, this year’s repeated disasters pose a clear question: will politicians finally end the industry’s destruction? Talk is cheap, but life is priceless and our climate stability is disintegrating the longer we delay.”

“The answer is not found in discord or division, but urgent collective action for our mutual benefit. Governments must develop and implement national roadmaps that accelerate a fast, fair and funded just transition into renewable energy and ensure we hold fossil fuel polluters and forest destroyers to account for the destruction they’ve caused.”

Greenpeace is urging leaders to embark on a robust multilateral response to the escalating climate threat after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned earlier in September the world had failed to limit warming to the Paris Agreement 1.5°C threshold as it outlined an “overshoot, peak and decline” pathway.  

An Lambrechts, Biodiversity Policy Expert, Greenpeace International said: “The devastating wildfires this year must finally compel us to act with the urgency we need to protect high integrity forests and end forest destruction by 2030, as agreed at COP28 and as part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.”

“These 2030 targets are not only aspirational, they represent a hard climate and biodiversity boundary. But as forest and ecosystem loss continue on our rapidly heating planet, these wildfires risk becoming a testament to our collective failure to act.”

“The Brazil COP30 Presidency’s Forest Roadmap creates the momentum for solutions to be put in place. What’s required is clear government action and deliverables to end and reverse forest destruction by 2030 . A future world of 1.5°C hinges on defending forests now and in the future.”

Rebecca Newsom, Global Political Lead, Greenpeace International said: “We are united with one simple demand: make the wealthiest polluters pay for the damage they cause. People are fed up with paying for a crisis they didn’t create, hit by fossilflation at the pump, the checkout, on insurance and in the climate damage communities are confronted with.”

“Fossil fuel profits are soaring off the back of the war on Iran. Permanently increasing taxes on them and shifting fiscal incentives towards renewables should be obvious for any government serious about a just transition and ensuring Global South countries get the public international climate finance they’re owed. The money is there, it just needs to be put into the right hands.”

ENDS

Photo and video available in the Greenpeace Media Library.

Notes:

Enough is enough: over 2 million petition signatures at UNGA to Make Polluters Pay

Contacts:

Aaron Gray-Block, Greenpeace International, Climate Politics Communications Manager, aaron.gray-block@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org

Valencia, Spain – The trial of 11 Greenpeace activists began today in Valencia with Spain’s Public Prosecutor seeking one of the harshest punishments ever in Europe for peaceful environmental protest. The authorities’ attempt to sentence these activists to five years in prison for a 2021 non-violent protest is part of a global trend of intensifying attempts to silence activism and shrink civic space.

In October 2021, the 11 activists blocked a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US for 12 hours at Valencia’s Port of Sagunto, calling for an immediate transition to renewable energy and warning against dependence on foreign gas imports.[1] 

Gina Romero, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, said: “The attempt to punish the Sagunto activists for exercising their rights is not an isolated incident. Across Europe and beyond, I am seeing peaceful environmental defenders met with disproportionate criminal charges, legal abuse, and prison sentences that bear no relation to the nature of their actions. History shows that civil disobedience and peaceful protest do not threaten the rule of law, rather, they are an essential driver of progress for democratic freedoms and rights. States have an obligation to protect, not punish, those who exercise them.”

The case has drawn concern from Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, who wrote to the Spanish government that he is “particularly troubled by the significant criminal sentences sought by the prosecution.”[2]  Forst and Amnesty International have announced they will attend the trial as observers. Ahead of the trial, Greenpeace Spain activists unveiled a giant, 530 square metre eye on the roof of Valencia’s Hemisfèric building with banners that read “The world is watching” and “Activism is not a crime.” 

Francisco del Pozo, one of the accused Greenpeace activists, said: “Being a climate activist in Spain today means standing up to defeatism: no more doing nothing while the climate collapses amid unstoppable wildfires, devastating floods, and extreme heat and drought. It also means bearing the brunt of a brutal backlash from the powerful, living for years with the anxiety of unjust charges and the constant threat of disproportionate prison sentences. I hope this trial will deliver rulings that favour peaceful activism, which is only going to become more necessary.”

What makes the disproportionate penalty requested by the prosecution even more unprecedented is that the maximum sentence for the alleged offense of public disorder was three and a half years in 2021, when the action took place. It was only raised to five years by a later reform, which prosecutors are applying retroactively.

Inés Díez, Legal Department Head for Greenpeace Spain, said: “International human rights law requires states to respect and protect the right to take part in peaceful civil disobedience, regardless of whether it takes place in open or closed public or private spaces. The conduct of the Sagunto 11 falls squarely within that scope. The Greenpeace activists should never have been subjected to a criminal process over action protected by these rights. No activist should have to put their life on hold for five years waiting for a court to decide their future.”

ENDS

Photos and videos are available in the Greenpeace Media Library.

Notes:

[1] Greenpeace Spain carried out the action with activists of 18 different nationalities, from onboard the ship MY Esperanza. No one was injured, and communication with maritime and port authorities remained peaceful and respectful throughout. Fines of 160,000 euros related to the action have already been imposed by the Spanish government.

[2] Forst’s Letter of Allegation and the Spanish government’s reply can be found on the Special Rapporteur’s website (under complaint ACSR/C/2026/113 (Spain)).

Contacts: 

Lindsay Bigda, Deputy Communications Lead, Civic Resistance & Freedoms, Greenpeace International, +1 207-385-7924 (Americas), lbigda@greenpeace.org 

Virginia Rabal, Communications Manager, Greenpeace Spain, +91 444 14 00 (EMEA), prensa.es@greenpeace.org 

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org