Small NGO, big victory
Three years ago, a story emerged that should have terrified anyone who believes in a free press. Ameco, a Swiss-based biomass behemoth, launched a brutal legal assault against Agent Green, a small but fearless Romanian NGO.
The “Crime”?
Daring to report the truth. In a joint investigation with the Environmental Investigation Agency and EuroNatur Foundation, Agent Green exposed how trees logged from a National Park ended up as biomass at Ameco. The story was so critical it was featured in The New York Times.
Ameco didn’t just sue; they tried to snuff out Agent Green entirely. They demanded:
- €3,000,000+ in lost revenue
- €200,000 in moral damages
- €5,464 PER DAY until the article was deleted
- A public apology and the total scrubbing of the NYT investigation from the internet
In an unprecedented show of solidarity, scientists and Oxbridge professors and 122 other global entities stepped up, recognising that an attack on Agent Green was an attack on scientific integrity and the right to hold industry accountable.
The Harghita Tribunal has now rejected every single one of Ameco’s claims, confirming what we already knew: Agent Green did not misinform and acted in the public interest.
However, a win in court doesn’t mean the damage is undone. Agent Green is still out tens of thousands of euros in legal fees—the “hidden tax” of SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) suits designed to bleed NGOs dry and intimidate whistleblowers through financial and psychological exhaustion.
This case was never just about Romanian forests; it was about the fundamental freedom to investigate and speak up. If Ameco had succeeded, no NGO, no matter how watertight their evidence, would have been safe from a corporate gag order.
The battle is won, but the struggle for transparency continues. The industry must be held accountable for promoting biomass as a clean, green solution when, in reality, burning ancient forests is a highly polluting, carbon-intensive practice that robs us of our best natural defence against global warming. This lawsuit was a desperate attempt to hide the gap between corporate greenwashing and the destruction on the ground.
Romania must urgently implement the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive to ensure that abusive intimidation lawsuits brought by financially powerful actors no longer silence the truth.
Justice won today, but the price of truth shouldn’t be bankruptcy. Support the organisations that take the hits so our ancient forests don’t have to.
May 2026
Photo: Agent Green