Paris (France) (AFP) – A French court on Thursday ordered TotalEnergies to account for its clients’ emissions and outline measures to address them, in a ruling that NGOs hailed as a victory in the major climate case. The court, however, stopped short of imposing specific measures demanded by the plaintiffs against the French energy giant, including a halt in new fossil fuel projects and cuts in oil and gas production.
The case is the latest in a growing wave of climate litigation targeting major corporate emitters worldwide, and it comes as France and other European countries are baking under a record-breaking heatwave. The NGOs and TotalEnergies battled at the Paris Judicial Court over whether environmental risks fall within France’s corporate duty of vigilance law, which was enacted in 2017.
“Climate-related risks and impacts to which the company may contribute through its activities fall within the scope of the law on the duty of vigilance for parent companies and ordering companies,” the court said. The city of Paris hailed the ruling as “a landmark decision in the history of French climate law.”
“For the first time, a judge recognises that climate risks do indeed fall under the duty of vigilance owed by large corporations, and no fossil-fuel multinational can evade this responsibility,” Deputy Mayor Alice Timsit said. “This is an important decision in these days of unprecedented heatwaves: fighting climate change also means fighting for a livable future in our daily lives,” the NGOs Notre Affaire a Tous, Sherpa and France Nature Environment said in a joint statement.
Company lawyers had argued during February hearings that the law did not cover global warming. But the group of NGOs that took TotalEnergies to court said the law’s reference to prevention of environmental risks encompasses both local pollution and climate change. The plaintiffs specifically accused TotalEnergies of refusing to account for indirect emissions from end users, which they say amounted to 342 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2024.
TotalEnergies argued that the law applied only to the company’s own operations and those of its contractors, not to customer activity. The court, however, said the company’s vigilance plan was “incomplete.” It gave TotalEnergies six months to amend it to include such emissions from end-users, known as Scope 3, along with unspecified “related measures.”
TotalEnergies said Thursday evening that it would “complete” its vigilance plan by incorporating client emissions by drawing on its sustainability report outlining actions to help customers reduce their emissions. The NGOs wanted the court to order a halt in new fossil fuel projects by the French energy group along with production cuts of 37 percent for oil and 25 percent for gas by 2030.
The court declined to impose such measures on TotalEnergies, saying the law does not allow the judge to “take the place of the company” to demand the implementation of specific actions, nor impose “a specific target to achieve.” Anne Stevignon, a legal expert with the NGO and co-plaintiff Notre Affaire a Tous, told AFP that the ruling on emissions means the company will have to implement “mitigation measures” and therefore “reduce production.”
The company had called the measures requested by the plaintiffs unreasonable and ineffective, arguing that production cuts or cancelled projects would simply shift output to competitors. TotalEnergies has said it was the victim of “demonisation” by the plaintiffs. Its lawyers argued that climate change would continue even if the company, which accounts for less than two percent of global production, shut its operations.
In a rare move, the Paris public prosecutor also intervened in the civil proceedings and echoed TotalEnergies’ stance, warning that imposing an overly broad protection obligation on companies would not be workable. The case, opened in 2020, had produced interim wins for campaigners. In 2024, the Paris appeals court allowed the lawsuit to proceed but dismissed claims from several local authorities, including New York City, which had sought to join the case. Only the city of Paris was recognised as having standing.
Other major polluters have been taken to court around the world. In late 2024, a Dutch appeals court overturned a landmark ruling that had ordered Shell to deepen emissions cuts. The country’s Supreme Court is due to issue a final ruling on the case.
© 2024 AFP
