TotalEnergies announced on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, a strengthening of its short-term objectives to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions from petroleum products. This reflects the relative decline of oil in its strategy while gas, particularly liquefied natural gas (LNG), emits less CO2 when burned. The French group intends to provide “more energy” with fewer emissions.
TotalEnergies has announced a new, more ambitious target for reducing the emissions generated by the fuels and kerosene burned by its customers (known as Scope 3 in carbon accounting). It aims to reduce emissions by 30% by 2025 (compared to 2030 previously) compared to 2015 and by 40% in 2030, i.e. a total reduction in emissions from 350 million to 210 million tons of CO2 equivalent. Indirect emissions related to the combustion of products sold by TotalEnergies currently account for the majority of its carbon footprint, followed by gas-related emissions. All indirect emissions related to the combustion of products sold by TotalEnergies represented 389 million tons of CO2 in 2022, a figure published Tuesday. The group intends to keep them “below 400 million tons” in 2030, compared to 410 million in 2015. This is the equivalent of the carbon footprint of the whole of France.
TotalEnergies wants to invest $5 billion in low-carbon energy by 2023, including $1 billion in energy efficiency at its facilities and $4 billion in low-carbon energy (solar, wind, carbon sequestration, hydrogen, etc.). Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies, confirmed the group’s ability to be profitable while investing in low-carbon energy. The group plans to invest “$14 to $18 billion per year (…) of which one third will be invested in low-carbon energy, about 30% will be dedicated to the development of new oil and gas projects, and the remainder will be dedicated to the maintenance of the hydrocarbon portfolio. These commitments have aroused the suspicion of associations and NGOs, which accuse the group of “greenwashing”.
However, associations and NGOs, such as Greenpeace, remain sceptical about the reality of these commitments. In fact, according to them, the group is “greenwashing” by promoting its climate strategy while continuing to invest massively in fossil fuels.
Despite the group’s communication efforts, Greenpeace pointed out that the vast majority of the investments planned for the period 2023-2030 were mainly directed towards fossil fuels. Last November, the NGO had already estimated that TotalEnergies’ total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were four times higher than those presented by the group. TotalEnergies disputed this claim at the time.
The NGO Reclaim Finance has called on investors to sanction TotalEnergies’ management for this plan, which is considered “incomplete and not aligned” with a trajectory to limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to the end of the 19th century. Associations and NGOs are therefore looking forward to the General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 26, when TotalEnergies will have to respond to these criticisms and give guarantees as to the reality of its commitments to the energy transition.
