French court convicts TotalEnergies over misleading climate claims

In Europe, courts ruled against Dutch airline KLM in 2024 and Germany's Lufthansa in March for misleading consumers about their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of flying. 

But ClientEarth, an organisation which closely monitors case law against the oil and gas industry, said Thursday's ruling was the first such conviction in the world against an oil company for corporate "greenwashing" -- or the act of claiming to be more environmentally responsible than in reality.

The Paris court found that TotalEnergies had made environmental claims that "misled" consumers into believing that it could achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 while increasing oil and gas production.

The court, however, dismissed complaints over TotalEnergies linked to its fossil gas and biofuels. 

Activists had argued that they had deceptively promoted gas and biofuels as clean energy.

Greenpeace and two other environment NGOs told AFP the ruling was "a major legal precedent against climate misinformation". 

"This is the first time anywhere in the world that a major oil and gas company has been convicted by the courts for misleading the public by greenwashing its image regarding its contribution to the fight against climate change," said the organisation, one of the plaintiffs in the case.

The civil case stems from a March 2022 lawsuit by three environmental groups accusing TotalEnergies of "misleading commercial practices" for ads saying it could reach carbon neutrality while continuing oil and gas production.

The plaintiffs took that legal route as "greenwashing" is not specifically covered under French law.

Starting in May 2021, TotalEnergies advertised its goal of "net zero by 2050, together with society" and touted gas as "the fossil fuel with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions". 

At the time, the company had changed its name from Total to TotalEnergies to emphasise its investments in wind turbines and solar panels for electricity production.

But there was a "big gap" between their advertising which focused on carbon neutrality and clean energy and "their activities which are still mostly based on fossil fuels," said Juliette Renaud from the French chapter of Friends of the Earth activist group, one of the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit targeted around 40 "false advertisements", some of which are still being used, according to climate groups.

It requested the court order their use be halted and TotalEnergy be required to put disclaimers on its ads that include warnings about the impact of fossil fuels on the climate.  

nal-ekf/ah/rl