France | Total convicted of greenwashing

For the first time, environmental organizations in France have succeeded in having a multinational corporation convicted of lying about its alleged environmental commitment. A court in Paris ruled that the energy company Total was attempting to convince the public of its alleged commitment to _carbon neutrality through deliberately misleading advertising. In reality, oil and gas production will continue to be expanded and continues to represent the most important part of Total's activities at home and abroad, the judges stated. It is therefore false and misleading for Total to claim to be one of the world's most important players in the transition to renewable energies.

Over 40 environmental organizations, including Greenpeace France, Les Amis de la Terre, and Notre affaire, filed a lawsuit in 2021 when the company renamed itself Total Energies and placed its alleged commitment to climate neutrality by 2050 at the center of its public presence. However, it failed to mention that wind and solar energy remained a secondary area of ​​the company's activities and that it invested heavily in the development of new oil and gas deposits, particularly in Africa.

The judges stated in their reasoning for the ruling that the Paris-based multinational corporation deliberately misleadingly exaggerated its commitment to the environment and misled consumers into believing they were doing something to protect the environment and the climate by purchasing Total products or services. In doing so, they followed the plaintiffs' arguments almost word for word. The court ordered the corporation to pay the plaintiff organizations a symbolic sum as compensation for the moral damages. Total must also publish the ruling on its website within one month and keep it there for 180 days. However, the court rejected the demand that Total also be convicted for promoting the production of fuel from agricultural products and the extraction of natural gas, even though scientific evidence shows this is harmful to the environment and biodiversity. The judges ruled that this was not advertising aimed at the general public, but rather information for partner companies and investors, thus following the arguments of Total's lawyers.

According to Greenpeace, the ruling is a "turning point in the fight against greenwashing" that will give impetus to the many similar lawsuits in other countries. This is the first time an oil or gas company has been convicted. In Spain, in February, the electricity supplier Iberdrola lost its lawsuit against the oil company Repsol, which had claimed: "The fight against climate change is in our blood." In the USA, last January, the New York City government unsuccessfully sued several oil companies for failing to adequately inform consumers about the consequences of using their products. In contrast, a court ruling forced Lufthansa to withdraw what the judges called "misleading advertising" about offsetting the _CO2 emissions caused by its flights.

In its defense, Total argued that half of the eight billion euros it has invested in France since 2020 went into solar or wind energy projects. Two gigawatts of electricity are produced here annually, equivalent to the capacity of two nuclear power plants. Oil and gas production has also become more environmentally friendly. The company's management emphasizes that the use of new technologies has reduced _CO2 emissions by 35 percent between 2015 and 2024. But this is also a fact: three-quarters of Total's global investments are in oil and gas.