Paris achieves partial victory over TotalEnergies in climate risks case

A Paris court on Thursday ruled partially in favor of climate activists, requiring French oil giant TotalEnergies to disclose climate risks associated with emissions from its oil and gas products and outline plans to mitigate them. The decision, brought under France's 2017 corporate duty of vigilance law, is a landmark moment for climate litigation, though the court declined to impose binding measures such as limiting exploration or setting emission reduction targets.

The deputy mayor of Paris, Alice Timsit, hailed the ruling as a historic recognition that climate risks fall under corporations' vigilance obligations. The city joined four NGOs in accusing TotalEnergies of refusing to account for indirect emissions from end users, which they said amounted to 342 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2024.

TotalEnergies argued that the law only covers its own operations and contractors, not customer activity. However, the court found the company's vigilance plan "incomplete" and gave it six months to amend it to include Scope 3 emissions. The court stated that Scope 3 emissions are inherently linked to the group's activities, as oil and gas production inevitably leads to combustion by users.

The NGOs sought a halt to new fossil fuel projects and a 37% cut in oil and 25% cut in gas production by 2030. The court rejected these requests, stating the law does not allow the judge to substitute for the company’s decision-making. TotalEnergies had argued that such cuts would simply shift production to competitors.

This case is part of a broader wave of climate lawsuits. In late 2024, a Dutch appeals court overturned a ruling that ordered Shell to deepen emission cuts, with the final decision pending. According to researchers at the Grantham Research Institute, the Paris ruling is significant because it anchors climate risks in legal obligation based on scientific consensus that emissions warm the planet and threaten human rights.