Munich, Germany – Today, Greenpeace activists from Germany are protesting the EU’s growing dependence on US gas just as the Munich Security Conference is kicking off. With US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expected to attend the conference, activists unfurled a 15×6 metre banner reading “Break free from tyrants” atop a tower crane. On Marienplatz, only a stone’s throw from the conference site, other activists inflated 10-metre-long representations of Putin and Trump sitting on a gas tanker, to symbolise Europe’s dependence on fossil fuel imports from tyrants.

Since 2022, EU-headquartered companies have signed an estimated €190-€210 billion worth of US liquefied gas contracts, according to calculations by Greenpeace International.[1] Many of these contracts have a duration far beyond 2035, the year by which the European Union (EU) must completely phase out fossil gas in order to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.[2] As an average of two tankers carrying liquefied gas from the United States (US) arrive in Europe every day, European countries already spent an estimated €2.8 billion on US gas since the start of the year.[3] Greenpeace urges leaders to cut Trump gas dependency and develop the EU’s energy security through homegrown renewable energy.

Lisa Göldner, fossil fuel campaigner from Greenpeace Germany:

“We are here today to highlight a very concrete security threat for Europe: its energy import dependency, and its growing reliance on gas from the US. Just as the EU is finally moving away from Russian gas imports, it risks replacing one unreliable gas dealer for another. The more Europe depends on the United States for energy, the greater the vulnerability to pressure by Trump. The only way for Europe to protect its political independence and achieve true energy security is to phase out fossil gas and accelerate the shift to a fully renewable energy system.”

The EU does not require additional US gas to ensure its energy security. It is already decreasing its gas consumption, and the implementation of its Fit for 55 and REPowerEU commitments will reinforce this trend, with fossil gas consumption reduced by more than 50% in 2030, from 2021 levels. While phasing out Russian gas, it has also demonstrated that, with determination, it can swiftly implement the necessary measures to disengage from an unreliable partner.[4]

For Greenpeace, it is now time for EU leaders to drop the pledge to purchase $750 billion worth of US energy by 2028 and all other negotiations on additional purchase agreements for US gas, commit to not sign new contracts and gradually terminate all existing supply contracts by 2035 at the latest.

ENDS

Photos and videos are available in the Greenpeace Media Library.

Notes:

[1] Media brief: EU’s rising reliance on US liquefied gas is a security risk – and it needs urgent action – Greenpeace International, February 2026

[2] Civil society 10-point plan for a fossil gas phase out by 2035, CAN Europe 

[3] According to data extracted from LSEG Data & Analytics on 12 February 2026, from 1 January 2026 to 12 February 2026, 90 US gas tankers arrived in EU countries. In this timeframe, EU countries imported 8.3 billion m3 of US gas, with an estimated value of €2.8 billion, based on the daily gas spot market price on the date of arrival as represented in the Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures. In a recent analysis, IEEFA highlights that the EU risks new energy dependence as the US could supply 40% of its gas imports by 2030.

[4] Media brief: EU’s rising reliance on US liquefied gas is a security risk – and it needs urgent action – Greenpeace International, February 2026

Contacts:

Manon Laudy, fossil fuels press officer, Greenpeace Belgium: +336 49 15 69 83, mlaudy@greenpeace.org 

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

Geneva, Switzerland – Following the election of HE Ambassador Julio Cordano of Chile as the new Chair of the committee tasked with negotiating a global plastics treaty, Greenpeace International said the appointment must mark a turning point for the Global Plastics Treaty talks and the start of a renewed effort to rebuild trust in the process. The election took place today during the third installment of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee’s (INC) fifth meeting (INC5.3).

Graham Forbes, Greenpeace Head of Delegation to the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations and Global Plastics Campaign Lead for Greenpeace USA, said: 

“Ambassador Cordano inherits a treaty negotiation process under strain. We have lost precious time since the negotiations began while the plastics crisis worsens by the day. We urge the new chair to rally world leaders to deliver a strong and effective agreement that puts people and the planet first. No more excuses. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect human health, our climate system and global biodiversity from toxic pollution, and initiate a new era of global innovation.

“Around the world, billionaires and corporate interests are challenging democratic institutions and undermining global cooperation. Effective multilateralism is a necessary condition of human survival. It is time for governments that understand this to step up to the challenge and deliver the Global Plastics Treaty that justice and science demand.”

ENDS

Photos are available in the Greenpeace Media Library.

Contacts:

Angelica Carballo Pago, Global Plastics Communication and Media Lead, Greenpeace USA, apago@greenpeace.org, +63917 1124492

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

Jane Fonda at a Greenpeace Premiere in the US, the OILympics in Milan, and protests against Shell and ICE, here is some of Greenpeace’s work from around the world this week.

United States – GASLIT, Greenpeace USA’s first feature film featuring Academy Award-winning actor and activist Jane Fonda, premieres at the 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival on 5 February 2026. Directed by Katie Camosy, GASLIT is both a call to action and a reflection on the decades-long struggle between fossil fuel profiteering and the survival of frontline communities.

Camosy and Fonda were joined at the premiere by film participants and Texas/Gulf Coast community advocates Jenny Espino and Diane Wilson, as well as award-winning actor Connie Britton.

Italy- Hard-hitting video highlighting the absurdity of Italian oil and gas giant Eni’s sponsorship of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games, as one of the corporations stealing our winters through its planet-heating pollution.

This satirical video, created by Studio Birthplace, shows speed skaters, skiers and bobsledders racing along, with Eni logos prominent. Suddenly a trickle of oil turns into a tsunami, sweeping the athletes off their feet, causing them to slip and crash as a sea of oil washes over them.

One year of Eni’s emissions could melt enough glacier ice to fill 2.5 million Olympic swimming pools, demonstrating the corporation’s central role in the climate crisis that threatens the future viability of the Games and winter sports.

Canada – Greenpeace activists unveiled a banner saying “No Canadian Arms for ICE” at the Brampton headquarters of the Canadian company that is building armoured vehicles for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as they called on all federal Members of Parliament to support the legislation before Parliament that would tighten restrictions on arms exports.

Italy – Greenpeace Italy activists took action in front of Milan’s Duomo to protest ENI, a major partner of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games. Its uncontrolled emissions are fueling the climate crisis, threatening the survival of glaciers and snowpack, and thus the Winter Olympics themselves. Activists placed an artifact depicting the Olympic rings soaked in oil, illustrating how polluting companies are also polluting the Olympic Games with their greenwashing.

United Kingdom – Greenpeace UK activists stage a protest outside Shell’s London HQ, holding giant figures comparing Shell’s annual profit with the UK’s 2025 bill for damages caused by extreme weather following the oil giant’s profit announcement.

United Kingdom – Greenpeace activists take over a billboard in London in solidarity with American citizens impacted by ICE, drawing the parallel to the climate crisis; as the climate breakdown is already the leading driver of migration worldwide.

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, visit our Media Library.