Early Warnings and Emerging Accountability: Total's Responses to Global Warming, 1971-2021

The study tracks Total's transition from receiving early warnings of catastrophic global warming in 1971 to a strategy of promoting scientific doubt in the late 1980s, and finally to a position of public acceptance of climate science coupled with policy delay by the late 1990s. It also notes Exxon's role in coordinating an international campaign via IPIECA to dispute climate science and weaken policy starting in the 1980s.

• Total personnel were warned about the potential for catastrophic global warming caused by its products by 1971, with their understanding of the issue deepening in the 1980s.
• Starting in the late 1980s, Total began promoting doubt about the scientific basis of global warming, eventually shifting in the late 1990s to publicly accepting the science while advocating for policy delay or policies that did not focus on fossil fuel control.
• Exxon used the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) to lead an international effort beginning in the 1980s to challenge climate science and undermine international climate policy.

APA

Franta, B. (2022). Early Warnings and Emerging Accountability: Total's Responses to Global Warming, 1971-2021. Climate Social Science Network. https://cssn.org/early-warnings-and-emerging-accountability-totals-responses-to-global-warming-1971-2021/

Chicago

Franta, Benjamin. Early Warnings and Emerging Accountability: Total's Responses to Global Warming, 1971-2021. Climate Social Science Network, 2022. https://cssn.org/early-warnings-and-emerging-accountability-totals-responses-to-global-warming-1971-2021/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Franta |first1=Benjamin |title=Early Warnings and Emerging Accountability: Total's Responses to Global Warming, 1971-2021 |publisher=Climate Social Science Network |date=14 February 2022 |url=https://cssn.org/early-warnings-and-emerging-accountability-totals-responses-to-global-warming-1971-2021/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{franta2022early, author = {Franta, Benjamin}, title = {{Early Warnings and Emerging Accountability: Total's Responses to Global Warming, 1971-2021}}, institution = {Climate Social Science Network}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://cssn.org/early-warnings-and-emerging-accountability-totals-responses-to-global-warming-1971-2021/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }