Environmental advocates across Europe are facing a threat that operates not in the streets or the media, but in the courtroom. SLAPPs – Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation – are increasingly being weaponised against those who speak out about pollution, extractive industries, and harmful development. A recent op-ed by Ruby Silk, published in the run-up to the inaugural Forum on Environmental Human Rights Defenders in Strasbourg, lays out the scale and urgency of the problem with striking clarity.
What is a SLAPP – and why does it matter for environmentalists?
SLAPPs are not ordinary legal disputes. They are litigation launched not to win on the merits, but to exhaust, intimidate, and financially drain their targets. Framed as defamation or reputational claims, they turn the legal process itself into the punishment.
While SLAPPs have long been tracked in the journalism and media freedom space, their growing use against environmental defenders has received comparatively little attention. According to the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE), environmental issues are now among the most common triggers for SLAPP cases in Europe. Fossil fuel companies, waste management firms, mining corporations, and property developers have all been linked to SLAPP-style litigation targeting those who challenge them in the public interest.
The cases are sobering. In Armenia, journalist and environmental activist Tehmine Yenokyan faces defamation proceedings brought by mining companies after raising concerns about environmental damage. In Poland, a grassroots residents’ association opposing a hazardous waste facility was ordered by a court to shut down its Facebook page – despite having posted only minimally on the issue. In Italy, two local campaigners opposing an LNG development faced a claim for €2 million in damages. These are not outliers. They are symptoms of a structural trend.
The EU anti-SLAPP directive: a floor, not a ceiling
The EU adopted its first anti-SLAPP directive in May 2024, creating procedural safeguards against abusive litigation in cross-border cases. The transposition deadline for Member States passed on 7 May 2026 – but implementation remains uneven. Some countries, including Belgium, have developed relatively robust protections; elsewhere, the picture is weak or incomplete.
Crucially, the directive’s scope has been criticised as too narrow. UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders Michel Forst has called for the explicit inclusion of environmental defenders in anti-SLAPP protections, warning against reliance on ambiguous interpretations of who qualifies. The Council of Europe’s recommendations on countering SLAPPs offer a more comprehensive model that goes beyond the EU directive’s current limits.
What meaningful protection looks like
Silk argues – convincingly – that anti-SLAPP protections must be practical to be meaningful. That means: early dismissal mechanisms for abusive cases; full cost-shifting to SLAPP claimants; accessible legal assistance for targets; and explicit coverage of environmental defenders in national legislation, not just cross-border cases.
It also means naming abusive claimants publicly and ensuring that judges and lawyers are equipped to identify SLAPPs for what they are.
The pro bono connection
At Pro Publico, we see first-hand how access to legal support can be the difference between a defender being silenced and one being able to fight back. SLAPP targets – often small NGOs, residents’ associations, or individual activists – are precisely the organisations least equipped to withstand prolonged litigation. Pro bono legal support is not a luxury in these cases; it is a lifeline.
“What strikes me most about the SLAPP phenomenon is how effectively it exploits the asymmetry between claimant and target. A well-resourced company or high-income individual can absorb the cost of litigation indefinitely. A local residents’ group cannot. That asymmetry is the weapon. Strong anti-SLAPP laws matter – but so does ensuring that defenders have access to quality legal support from the moment a claim lands. That’s exactly where the pro bono community has a role to play.”
– Francesco Zatelli, Managing Director of Pro Publico
As Europe reckons with shrinking civic space and the growing criminalisation of protest, SLAPPs represent one of the quieter – and more insidious – threats to public participation. The good news is that the legal tools to fight back are improving. The challenge now is making sure they actually reach the people who need them.
📖 Read the original op-ed by Ruby Silk: SLAPPs – the bully lawsuits silencing environmental defenders