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French Court Orders TotalEnergies to Map Customer Emissions, Declines to Stop New Projects

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French Court Orders TotalEnergies to Map Customer Emissions, Declines to Stop New Projects

The Paris Judicial Court on Thursday mandated TotalEnergies (TTE.PA, TTE.L) to include customers' greenhouse gas emissions in its environmental risk planning, while refusing to block the French energy company's oil and gas projects or cap its production.

Under France's "duty of vigilance" law, the court gave TotalEnergies six months, until January 2027, to update its vigilance plan to include Scope 3 emissions, requiring the energy major to legally account for indirect climate risks across its entire value chain.

To comply with the deadline, TotalEnergies agreed to adjust its strategy amid its pledge to reduce the carbon intensity of its energy products by 25% by 2030, compared with 2015 levels. The company noted that it had already achieved an 18% reduction in carbon intensity by the end of 2025.

Originally launched in 2020 by the City of Paris and a coalition of environmental groups, Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, Zea and France Nature Environnement, the case has been adjourned until Jan. 21, 2027. At that time, the court will reconvene to evaluate whether TotalEnergies' updated compliance plan satisfies the judicial order.

TotalEnergies noted the court's decision with "satisfaction," saying the ruling affirmed that France's duty of vigilance law "is not intended to hold the companies concerned responsible for the risks related to climate change resulting from all human activity on the planet since the industrial revolution." The company added that it is not the judiciary's role to dictate corporate climate targets.

The company's Paris- and London-listed stocks were 1% lower by Friday midday trade.

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