Oil giant TotalEnergies misled its customers and the general public when it claimed to be a leading actor in the transition to green energy, a French court ruled today.
Following its rebranding from Total to TotalEnergies in 2021, the French oil producer launched an advertising campaign stating that the company had the “ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”
It claimed “to be a major player in the energy transition” and to put “sustainable development at the heart of our strategy, our projects, and our operations to contribute to the well-being of populations, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations.”
But the court found that TotalEnergies had engaged in “misleading commercial practices” by disseminating claims on its website which made the company’s operations appear greener than they were — a practice known as greenwashing. According to the court, these claims were “likely to mislead consumers about the scope of the Group’s environmental commitments.”
The court ordered TotalEnergies to stop spreading the misleading claims “within one month” or face a €10,000 fine per day of delay.
The case against the oil major was brought in 2022 by a group of green NGOs including Friends of the Earth France and Greenpeace France with the support of the legal charity ClientEarth.
“We hope that the court’s decision will help shed light on the reality of Total’s activities, which continue to expand oil and gas operations,” Juliette Renaud, a member of Friends of the Earth France, said in a statement. “It is time to force Total and the other majors to comply with scientists’ recommendations to put an end to the development of new fossil fuel projects,” she added.
TotalEnergies was contacted for comments but did not reply by the time of publication. The company can decide to appeal the decision.
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