Impact report 2024

Together we show up, we stand up, and we get things done. Here's how Greenpeace changed the world in 2024.

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Welcome to our 2024

Looking back, 2024 was definitely a year of contrasts. Green debates were high on the agenda in elections from the UK to the US to India – but far too many politicians used them to try and polarise voters, rather than to advocate for new solutions. The global movement to protect our planet grew rapidly – but so did restrictions on peaceful protest in many countries. Thankfully, as this report shows, Greenpeace’s community only knows one way to respond when a greener, safer future is put at risk. We double down and fight – and throughout 2024 that led us to achieve incredible impact together… continue

Areeba Hamid and Will McCallum
Joint executive directors, Greenpeace UK

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UK climate

Inspiring voters, driving progress.

We launched our first ever grassroots organising programme in the lead up to the general election. Greenpeace supporters around the UK knocked on 54,000 doors, made 14,000 phone calls, and arranged 1,300 events for ‘Project Climate Vote’. A million people saw our manifesto. And, thanks to our community’s incredible efforts, 223,000 people pledged to vote with climate in mind at May’s general election.

Supporters did everything in their power to make climate a central election issue – and it worked. The campaign got 300 pieces of news coverage, everywhere from BBC News to the Financial Times. The main political parties all directly engaged with our manifesto asks, which covered everything from fixing draughty homes to making travel more sustainable. And over a third of seats that changed hands went to parties standing for stronger climate action, while the majority of net zero sceptics were voted out. The public mandate for climate action couldn’t have been clearer.

Green energy keeps growing

With people’s voices heard so loudly, the positive news kept coming. In July, the government lifted the ban on new onshore wind developments in England, in line with the rest of the UK. This followed years of Greenpeace lobbying and media work, backed up by a petition signed by over 150,000 people. In September, the government’s renewable energy auction broke all records, securing £1.5bn in new clean energy projects, with the potential to power 11 million homes. And in October, a new North Sea ‘skills passport’ was announced, to help oil and gas workers transition to careers in renewables. Greenpeace began campaigning for that kind of support in 2021, after we published research showing the challenges workers in fossil fuel industries are facing. Change takes time – but together we make it happen.

Courtroom triumphs

We also celebrated two highly significant court cases in 2024. First, in July, Sarah Finch won her five-year legal fight against proposed oil drilling near Gatwick Airport. Sarah argued that permission given to the project was unlawful because it didn’t take emissions from burning the oil into account, and the Supreme Court agreed. We intervened and provided evidence in this case, alongside Friends of the Earth.

Then, influenced by this case, in August the government dropped its legal defence of the proposed opening of two new oil fields – Rosebank and Jackdaw – in the North Sea. We had argued that all permits for these sites were also illegal as they failed to consider potential emissions created. And – stepping slightly outside the period of this review – in January 2025, a judge agreed with us, preventing oil companies from using Rosebank and Jackdaw. This was a huge moment, following a year when mass support for a clean energy transformation was clearer than it’s ever been.

Stop drilling, start paying

How millions made Shell back down.

We should never have been forced to spend 2024 defending ourselves against Shell’s legal action. For one thing, it’s the oil and gas giants themselves who should be in the dock. They’ve knowingly spent decades fuelling the climate crisis and poisoning our atmosphere, and that’s led to the unprecedented storms, floods and wildfires that are devastating communities around the world. For another thing, the case against us was just a doomed attempt to silence us. But Shell sued us for millions over a completely peaceful protest – and rapidly discovered that the Greenpeace community isn’t intimidated by the bullying tactics of planet-destroying corporations.

Shell launched the legal action after four Greenpeace activists peacefully boarded a ship it had contracted to transport equipment to a North Sea oil rig in 2023. Once the protest ended, the only damage Shell could find was a padlock it alleged our activists had broken. One padlock. But the company demanded $1m in damages and planned to spend another $10m in legal fees, which we could have been forced to pay if we lost the case. It was one of the biggest threats we have faced in our 50-year history in the UK.

A community united

From the moment the case was announced, however, Greenpeace supporters united in action. They donated over £1m, an incredible sum that meant we could ramp up our fight against the fossil fuel industry and other destructive industries not just in court, but in lobbying rooms, in the media and through further peaceful protest. Over 250,000 people signed our open letter to Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan, and thousands more called and emailed Shell to make their anger clear.

Forbes called the case the ‘Cousin Greg lawsuit’ – which was picked up across the media – after we created viral video content featuring the hapless character who sues Greenpeace in TV show Succession, with the blessing of the show’s creator, Jesse Armstrong. Celebrities including Joe Lycett, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Jesse Armstrong backed our campaign. Pressure grew, and Shell found itself battling a PR catastrophe.

Embarrassed into retreat

As Greenpeace’s legal counsel Jack Robirosa was named Lawyer of the Week in The Times, Shell backed down and settled out of court. It means they didn’t get a penny of our supporters’ money. Instead, we agreed to donate £300,000 to our brave friends at the RNLI, whose mission to save lives at sea has become more important as the climate crisis supercharges storms and floods worldwide.

Greenpeace doesn’t have Shell’s resources or legal team. But we are a movement of millions who refuse to stay silent in the face of Big Oil’s destruction – or its attempts at intimidation. Until Big Oil stops drilling and starts paying for the devastation it causes, we’ll never stop campaigning.

Oceans

Bringing the sea change.

After the elation of the UN Global Ocean Treaty being signed in late 2023, throughout 2024 we focused on making sure governments ratified the agreement into national laws. At the time of writing 21 countries have done just that, but while the UK government has repeatedly said it will ratify the Treaty before the June 2025 UN Ocean Conference, progress has stalled. So we also used every tool at our disposal to remind the government that the UK was one of the first to sign the Treaty and why ocean protection must be prioritised.

Gathering evidence at sea

Our ships helped us forcefully make our case, as we took to the sea to bear witness to ocean destruction, collect scientific data, raise awareness and meet with communities. In August, the crew of the Rainbow Warrior looked on in horror as they documented 25 hours of longline fishing hauls in the North Pacific.

In total they saw 84 sharks of all ages dragged out of the water, either already dead or hurriedly killed on board – an average of three an hour. This is the impact of indiscriminate industrial fishing in the area, with lines up to 100km long dragged behind industrial fishing vessels and turtles and rays among the bycatch. Without our ships, this hidden abuse stays hidden. But instead we used our findings to raise the alarm, generate headlines globally and pressure governments to ratify the Treaty.

Meanwhile, in the summer, our ship the Arctic Sunrise was in the Sargasso Sea, a biodiversity hotspot at the heart of the Atlantic Ocean. As well as using pioneering eDNA sampling and hydrophone recordings to analyse whale and dolphin movements, we joined with local conservationists to study seabird populations and plastic pollution. Local communities, scientists, fishermen, politicians and Bermudian conservationists joined us on board to share their experiences and hear about our ocean protection strategy. It led the government of Bermuda – a UK Overseas Territory – to back our calls for an ocean sanctuary to be created in the Sargasso Sea, and strengthened our demands for the Global Ocean Treaty to deliver a worldwide network of protected areas.

Saving our seabeds

Our global campaign to stop deep sea mining before it starts also grew fast in 2024. By the end of the year, over 200,000 people had signed and shared our petition against this destructive, senseless new industry. Thirty-two countries, including the UK, had supported a moratorium on deep sea mining. And a wide-ranging global coalition against the industry brought together Indigenous groups – including Maori activists, who we campaigned with at sea – scientists, fishing companies, banks, insurers, and tech, car and battery companies, who have pledged not to use minerals and metals mined from the seabed. As recently as 2023, the CEO of deep sea mining company The Metals Company said there was a ‘0.1% chance’ of deep sea mining being blocked. But our campaign has played a central part in uniting a global community against the industry. Activists from Pacific islands travelled with Greenpeace to the International Seabed Authority talks in Jamaica, and we used our observer status to make sure campaigners were heard. They lobbied governments directly, addressed the meeting, handed over a petition from 56 Indigenous organisations and hosted their own event.

By late 2024, we saw the real impact of this growing global movement, as Norway reversed its plans to open up 280,000 sq km of its territorial Arctic waters to deep sea mining. The plans had seemed like a done deal. But we protested outside a key Norwegian mining company’s HQ and exposed the risk of their proposals in a hard-hitting report. A film we recorded of British musician Jacob Collier and Norwegian pop superstar AURORA performing in the Arctic to raise awareness of what’s at stake was watched 1.4 million times. European parliamentarians pressed their Norwegian counterparts to change their path. And, in December, Norway’s government announced it was cancelling the country’s planned deep sea mining licensing round. As a result, those Arctic waters are safe from mining for 2025 at least.

We were told this shift wouldn’t have happened without our campaigning. Together with our community worldwide, we keep our blue planet safe.

Plastics

Demanding action, from Parliament to Dove HQ.

Targeted campaigning works. Throughout 2024, Dove and its owner Unilever – one of the world’s worst plastic polluters – were rarely out of our sights. In response, by the end of the year Unilever was lobbying companies at Global Plastics Treaty negotiations to back plastic production cuts. Similarly, after hundreds of thousands of Greenpeace supporters demanded government action, the Environment Minister pledged the UK’s support for a strong UN Global Plastics Treaty, and thanked campaigning groups for our work. That’s positive change in action.

Highlighting real harm

Our brand attack on Dove highlighted the hypocrisy of its ‘Real Beauty’ advertising. Activists from the Global South shared their stories to show the ‘Real Harm’ of the 1,700 plastic sachets Dove pumps out every second. We interrupted Dove’s AGM, rebranded bathrooms at the event with the stories of women and girls most impacted by plastic pollution, and shut down Dove’s London HQ. In a chilling sign of the UK’s new anti-protest laws, 34 campaigners were arrested at the peaceful London protest, though all charges were later dropped.

We also teamed up with partners including Everyday Plastic, the University of Portsmouth and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to run The Big Plastic Count again, with 224,000 people counting their plastic waste – and revealing UK households throw away around 1.7 billion pieces of plastic a week. London primary school pupils then joined us at the House of Commons to discuss the results with Environment Secretary Emma Hardy and hand in a petition signed by over 500,000 people calling for a strong Global Plastics Treaty. It was Hardy who then told Parliament it was ‘the most effective lobbying’ she had ever seen. Hundreds of Greenpeace supporters also lobbied their MPs directly, prompting 60 MPs to sign a letter demanding a strong Treaty.

Sadly, the latest round of Global Plastics Treaty talks didn’t end in a deal being signed. But – crucially – governments agreed to keep negotiating in 2025, rather than approving a toothless Treaty. Coordinated lobbying from our team also led over 100 governments to back proposals to cut plastic production at the talks. So it’s still all to play for, and we’ll do everything possible in 2025 to get a strong, ambitious deal over the line.

Forests

Focus on finance.

Together with a coalition of environmental and civil society organisations, in 2024 we launched our global campaign ‘Bankrolling Extinction’. Our target? Regulators and the financial institutions who, since the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, have allowed over $1 trillion in global credit to go to corporations that put forests and other critical ecosystems at risk.

We know huge subsidies are still being funnelled into meat, soy, timber, paper and mining companies linked to deforestation. And a new study by Greenpeace Brazil outlined the urgent measures needed to stop financial institutions fuelling forest destruction and harming Indigenous communities – directly and indirectly. In a clear sign that our message was being heard, Brazil’s public prosecutor then announced that financing agricultural projects in Indigenous lands and conservation areas can be a crime, and advised banks including Santander and Rabobank to cancel investments that could be funding destruction of protected land. The healthy future of critical ecosystems from the Amazon to the Cerrado savannah to the Pantanal wetlands depends on finance being cut off now.

Taking the fight to JBS

We also worked with partners to successfully prevent industrial meat giant – and renowned forest destroyer – JBS from listing on the New York Stock Exchange – an essential step in their expansion plans. As the coalition calling on investors to ‘Drop JBS’ gained momentum, MPs and MEPs also wrote to the US regulator, highlighting JBS’ appalling environmental and human rights’ record. The listing was repeatedly delayed, and seemed no closer by the end of 2024.

And, in Brazil, we supported the local Greenpeace team to monitor forest destruction from the air and the ground, calling out crimes against nature in real time. They witnessed dramatic increases in deforestation and forest burning in the Amazonas and Rondônia states, including in rural properties financed by a credit scheme that is failing to prevent forest destruction. Evidence like this helped us call out financial lobbyists and strengthened our calls to governments to genuinely prioritise forest protection – before it’s too late.

Science

Throughout 2024, the team at Greenpeace Research Laboratories provided evidence, new data and independent analysis to fire our campaigns forward.

Revealing Africa’s air pollution hotspots

We worked closely with Greenpeace Africa and Greenpeace Middle East North Africa to identify major polluters and pollution sources across the continent. This included revealing some of the world’s biggest point sources of nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide emissions. The research generated widespread media coverage and led to us being invited to present our findings to Parliament in South Africa.

Documenting the dangers of deep sea mining

Following Norway’s decision to open its waters to deep sea mining, we used underwater microphones and audiovisual mapping to survey whales and dolphins in the area. We found sperm whales, orcas, a fin whale, dolphins and several minke whales, all species that could be at risk if mining proceeds. We also contributed to a technical report outlining potential risks to the local ecosystem. In late 2024 Norway agreed to stop the first licensing round going ahead in 2025.

Gathering evidence on board our ships

Our ships provide an invaluable way to conduct remote investigations. In 2024, this included a cetacean survey off the coast of Sri Lanka with local partners and eDNA samples taken on board the Arctic Sunrise in the Sargasso Sea. Greenpeace also witnessed and recorded the impact of indiscriminate industrial fishing in the area. Taken together, this work strengthened our case for urgent ocean protection.

Bringing the science to plastics negotiations

As Global Plastics Treaty negotiations reached their final stages, we made sure talks were based on the latest evidence. As well as attending the talks and liaising with delegates, we co-authored a report that combined five years of plastic audits across 84 countries to show the brands most responsible for plastic pollution. We also helped organise the first international conference on petrochemicals and climate change.

Unearthed investigations

Our award-winning, editorially independent journalism team continued to inspire change, publishing groundbreaking environmental stories that would otherwise be ignored.

Sewage spills were a key issue in the general election campaign, and the focus of some of our most impactful journalism in 2024. In October, we published findings from a leaked Environment Agency report showing that bathing water quality dropped sharply at some of England’s top-rated beaches during the winter, when official swimming spots are usually unmonitored. Six weeks after our investigation gained prominent coverage in The Times, the government announced bathing water quality at beaches would now be tested all year round.

As campaigners arrived in South Korea for crunch Global Plastics Treaty talks in November, another Unearthed investigation revealed the truth about an organisation that had played a prominent role at previous negotiations. The Alliance to End Plastic Waste is a high-profile lobby group that includes some of the world’s biggest oil and chemical companies. And, despite the coalition’s name, Unearthed showed that alliance members had actually produced over 1,000 times more plastic than they had cleaned up since the group was founded.

An Unearthed investigation covered in The Observer showed the UK had exported around 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides the previous year, including enough bee-killing neonicotinoids to spray the surface of England, and more than 5,000 tonnes of toxic weed killer diquat. We discovered the main destination for the UK’s diquat exports was Brazil, and our Brazilian reporter uncovered a growing number of diquat poisonings in the south of the country. The investigation led to calls to ban UK exports of domestically banned pesticides.

In April, days before London’s mayoral election, we published an investigation into a network of Facebook groups presented as grassroots campaigns against the capital’s Ultra-Low Emissions Zone. We showed these groups were run by Conservative Party operatives, and had become rife with racism and misinformation. The story featured prominently in The Observer, was raised twice in Prime Minister’s Questions, and became a key part of the election debate.

Allyship and anti-racism

In 2024 we stood side-by-side with grassroots groups, listened to young leaders and kept elevating diversity, inclusion and anti-racism across Greenpeace.

Close to 80 groups used our Open Workshop Community Space in 2024, developing their campaigns on climate justice, migrant justice, racial justice and more. And, through our Movement Support Fund, we gave financial support to grassroots projects including a community anti-war mural, two climate camps, and a workshop on staying safe during non-violent actions. Both initiatives reflect our commitment to redressing imbalances that prevent groups from accessing space and resources where they can grow.

Further afield, we also collaborated with over 30 organisations to help develop and design the Global Climate Justice Camp in Tanzania. For five unforgettable days, members of the Greenpeace team learned from 300 young leaders from 90 countries, as they attended workshops on issues like climate finance and countering disinformation. The camp supported young leaders to strengthen their advocacy skills ahead of the COP29 climate conference in Baku.

Building an inclusive Greenpeace

For the third year in row, we also took part in the RACE Report – the UK’s largest analysis of racial and ethnic diversity in the environmental sector. 23.4% of our staff now identify as people of colour – up from 18.6% in 2023 – including 42.8% of our board members. We’re proud of these steps, but we recognise there’s more to do, particularly in improving the representation of Black communities. We are a London-based organisation, and it’s critical that our team reflects the city’s diversity. In 2025, we plan to publish race and ethnicity representation targets, because accountability drives action.

We’ve also made positive steps in our journey to embed inclusion across every aspect of our organisation. All teams at Greenpeace also completed our ‘Towards an anti-oppressive Greenpeace’ training in 2024 and created anti-racism team agreements. We’ve progressed the insights phase of our ‘Inclusion Project’, a large-scale effort to understand the experiences of colleagues from marginalised communities and dismantle exclusionary workplace norms. And we’re also continually updating our policies, reflecting our broader commitment to equity – we recently implemented a new Family Leave Policy, which is amongst the best in the UK.

Global impact

Throughout 2024, Greenpeace took local action worldwide with consequences for us all. Here’s a small sample of how activists across the globe protected our planet last year.

Global

We launched campaigns around the world to tax the super rich to fund the just and green future we all need. We teamed up with Patriotic Millionaires in the UK, dressed as Santa Claus in cities across Germany, and protested outside the G20 meeting in Brazil to send the same message. The ultra rich, a tiny minority in our society, who do most harm to our planet, must help deliver a just and fair energy transition.

Thailand

In December the Thai government announced a ban on plastic waste being imported into the country, after five years of determined campaigning by Greenpeace supporters. Plastic waste imports had increased rapidly after China closed its doors to plastic waste in 2017. Changes like this are vital to protect communities and the planet, to stop countries exporting their plastic pollution problems elsewhere and a crucial step in tackling the global plastic pollution crisis.

Australia

After 22,000 supporters got behind Greenpeace Australia’s Electrify campaign – which was launched to transform the country’s car buying habits – Australia’s government announced sweeping emissions limits for new vehicles. Campaigners made electric vehicles a government priority by lobbying politicians and publishing new research, and the resulting legislation will stop 80 million tonnes of carbon pollution entering the atmosphere by 2035.

Brazil

After a decade-long campaign, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice has officially recognised the Indigenous Munduruku people’s ownership of their Amazon homelands. The decision will create major obstacles for destructive mining and logging companies seeking to exploit Indigenous land, a major win for both Indigenous rights and global biodiversity. Greenpeace has partnered with the Munduruku since 2013 to fight for this long overdue change.

Senegal

It took four years of campaigning from fishing communities and Greenpeace, but the Senegalese government has finally published a full list of vessels authorised to fish in its waters, helping to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems from over-exploitation. Greenpeace research had shown that a lack of transparency in Senegal had left waters dangerously over-exploited. “We stand ready to support the Senegalese government in its efforts to increase transparency and sustainability,” said Dr Aliou Ba from Greenpeace Africa.

Norway

Together with Young Friends of the Earth Norway, Greenpeace Norway celebrated a landmark legal victory in January. We argued that Norway’s approval of three new North Sea oil and gas fields violated the country’s constitution and legal commitments, as it failed to take the fields’ climate impact into account. An Oslo court agreed with us, in a landmark legal victory, meaning millions of barrels of oil will stay in the ground, setting a precedent for future challenges to environmentally harmful policies.

Funding our mission

I’m blown away by everything we’ve accomplished thanks to our supporters, says fundraising director Melanie McNeill.

It’s not always easy to focus on the progress we’re making when the world around us keeps throwing challenges our way. But as I reflect on what we achieved last year, including exceeding all our ambitious income targets, I’m blown away by the generosity and actions of our supporters. We really can’t thank you enough for the part you played, and I hope you’re proud of what we’ve accomplished together.

We rely on supporter actions and gifts, so whether you signed petitions, made a donation or included a gift in your Will, it’s thanks to you that we achieved the impact we’re so proud to set out in this report. From helping to save the seabed from destructive mining, to lifting the ban on onshore wind development, none of this would have been possible without you. And I especially want to acknowledge the phenomenal support you gave us to force Shell to back down. We are so grateful to every single one of you for being with us.

Where our money came from (£,000)

What we spent it on (£,000)

A partnership for climate action

The Moondance Foundation is a charitable foundation, set up by Diane and Henry Engelhardt to further their family’s philanthropy and giving. Their compassion and desire to help others means they are incredibly generous in supporting a range of projects that help and empower vulnerable people, while also ensuring future generations will inherit a healthy planet.

In January 2022 The Moondance Foundation made a transformational pledge with Greenpeace Environmental Trust to fund action on climate change. Their trusting partnership meant we could invest in a range of interventions – across a number of different projects – by strengthening our team of campaigners, communicators and policy experts.

Together, we’ve pushed the UK government to deliver policy changes and investments for renewable energy, meaning cheaper bills and better energy security. We’ve tackled deforestation, prevented oil drilling in critical rainforests and supported Indigenous Peoples to gain their land rights. And we have plans to do even more to help the UK stay on track with reducing emissions in a fair and equitable way.

We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to The Moondance Foundation for standing with us in working towards a green and fair future for all. Your gift has been pivotal in strengthening our teams and work to deliver vital climate action. Thank you!

A special thank you

We can’t thank you enough for your support. As the pressures on our planet keep on growing, your support makes all of the progress in this report possible. We would like to acknowledge the following individuals and organisations for their generous contributions in 2024:

Gifts in Wills

Every year we are honoured to receive gifts from supporters who include Greenpeace in their Will. We would like to pay tribute to the compassion and generosity of the following people:

About Greenpeace

About Greenpeace

How Greenpeace creates change

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Impact reports

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Impact report 2022

Impact report 2023