By America Hernandez
PARIS (Reuters) -Oil major TotalEnergies misled consumers when it launched a 2021 ad campaign depicting mostly wind and solar farms and claiming it could become carbon neutral by 2050, a French civil court found on Thursday, in the first decision applying France’s greenwashing law to an energy company.
The court ordered the company to pay 8,000 euros ($9,330) in reparations to each of the three NGOs that brought the case, and pay a total of 15,000 euros to cover their legal fees.
Total must also remove from its website all statements regarding carbon neutrality and the energy transition that were deemed misleading, and post a link to the legal decision, in a month or face penalties of up to 20,000 euros per day.
EU SEEKS TO CRACK DOWN ON ‘GREENWASHING’
“TotalEnergies … committed misleading commercial practices in diffusing on its website messages based on allegations it aimed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and be a major actor of the energy transition, which are likely to mislead consumers about the scope of the group’s environmental commitments,” the decision reads.
TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This historic decision is the first time in the world that a major oil and gas firm was found liable for having misled the public by greening its image regarding its contribution to the fight against climate change,” Friends of the Earth France said in a statement.
Amid a surge in climate claims by companies in recent years, the European Union and other jurisdictions have moved to clamp down on false or exaggerated statements, notably by financial firms offering sustainable funds, though EU talks have stalled on penalties for companies using claims to sell products.
Major oil and gas companies have been criticised for claiming their businesses are climate friendly, because they continue to produce fuels that release planet-warming gases even as they invest in cleaner energy technologies.
In 2021, Total changed its name to TotalEnergies, pledging to gradually reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and invest in wind, solar and battery technologies, while expanding its more lucrative business of oil and gas exploration and production.
That prompted civil society groups Greenpeace France, Friends of the Earth France and Notre Affaire A Tous to sue Total in 2022, arguing that it was deceiving consumers with advertisements implying the company was pivoting to produce only or mostly green energy.
While TotalEnergies has invested the most of any global oil major in renewables, with a current portfolio of 26 gigawatts of gross installed renewables capacity, more than 97% of its income last year came from activities that are not environmentally sustainable, according to EU green investment disclosures.
A separate criminal investigation on the advertisements by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, which could also involve financial penalties, is ongoing.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by America Hernandez and Inti Landauro. Editing by Mark Potter)
