TotalEnergies Penalized for Misleading Green Claims: French Court Ruling

A French court found TotalEnergies guilty of misleading consumers in a 2021 ad campaign, claiming carbon neutrality by 2050 with a focus on renewable energy. The ruling, the first under France's greenwashing law for an energy firm, awarded reparations to NGOs that brought the case forward.

TotalEnergies has been found guilty of misleading consumers with its 2021 ad campaign, which suggested a focus on solar and wind energy while claiming it would achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. This landmark ruling by a French civil court is the first application of France's greenwashing law towards an energy company.

The court ordered TotalEnergies to pay 8,000 euros to each of the three NGOs involved in the case and cover 15,000 euros in legal fees. This comes amid increasing scrutiny from the European Union and other jurisdictions on exaggerated climate claims by companies.

TotalEnergies, which renamed itself in 2021 to reflect a supposedly greener focus, still derives over 97% of its income from non-sustainable activities, as per EU disclosures. A separate criminal investigation into these advertisements is ongoing.