Signalement relatif à la possible diffusion d’informations trompeuses par la société TotalEnergies SE en lien avec le climat et les énergies fossiles

ClientEarth, Amis de la Terre France, and Notre Affaire à Tous allege that TotalEnergies SE has misled investors by claiming alignment with the Paris Agreement while continuing to increase fossil fuel production. The report argues that such misinformation obscures systemic financial risks, as climate change threatens global economic stability and asset valuations. It specifically challenges the company's claims regarding the role of natural gas as a 'transition energy' and its 'net zero' ambitions, citing a 2025 Paris court ruling that found the company's consumer communications to be misleading.

• A Paris court ruled on October 23, 2025, that TotalEnergies and its subsidiary misled consumers by suggesting it contributed to the fight against climate change while planning to increase fossil fuel production.
• TotalEnergies' energy production remains overwhelmingly fossil-fuel based; in 2025, oil and gas accounted for approximately 92% of its production (50% oil and 42% gas).
• The company plans to increase hydrocarbon production by approximately 3% annually between 2026 and 2030, with fossil fuels expected to represent 80% to 90% of its energy production by 2030.
• TotalEnergies' greenhouse gas emissions are significant, representing approximately 1% of global annual GHG emissions in 2025 when including scopes 1, 2, and 3.
• The report argues that TotalEnergies' claims that liquefied natural gas (LNG) reduces emissions by replacing coal are misleading because they ignore the risk that gas slows the deployment of renewables and battery storage.
• The company's 'substitution argument'—that reducing its own production would simply shift demand to other suppliers without benefiting the climate—is contested by the report and was rejected by the UK Supreme Court in the Finch case.
• TotalEnergies recently admitted that its 2050 net zero ambition did not meet Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requirements and that the 1.5°C warming limit is 'out of reach'.
• Climate change is presented as a systemic financial risk; the report cites the IFoA's estimate that the global economy could lose 50% of its GDP between 2070 and 2090 without immediate policy action.
• The report claims the AMF has failed to act on multiple warnings since 2020 regarding TotalEnergies' climate disclosures, contrasting this with more proactive regulators in Australia (ASIC), the Netherlands (AFM), and the UK (FCA).

APA

ClientEarth (2026). Signalement relatif à la possible diffusion d’informations trompeuses par la société TotalEnergies SE en lien avec le climat et les énergies fossiles. https://www.clientearth.org/media/dplp5ql4/signalement-amf-totalenergies.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Signalement relatif à la possible diffusion d’informations trompeuses par la société TotalEnergies SE en lien avec le climat et les énergies fossiles. 2026. https://www.clientearth.org/media/dplp5ql4/signalement-amf-totalenergies.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Signalement relatif à la possible diffusion d’informations trompeuses par la société TotalEnergies SE en lien avec le climat et les énergies fossiles |date=27 May 2026 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/dplp5ql4/signalement-amf-totalenergies.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2026signalement, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Signalement relatif à la possible diffusion d’informations trompeuses par la société TotalEnergies SE en lien avec le climat et les énergies fossiles}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/dplp5ql4/signalement-amf-totalenergies.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }