TOTALENERGIES : Faut-il croire à sa diversification ?

Reclaim Finance argues that TotalEnergies' claims of diversification are misleading, as the company intends to increase oil and gas production through 2028 and expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity. The report highlights that the company's renewable energy growth is largely driven by acquisitions of existing projects rather than new construction, and that its 'clean' hydrogen and electricity goals still rely heavily on fossil gas. A specific case study on the Papua LNG project illustrates the potential for significant carbon emissions and human rights violations, while the report concludes by urging financial institutions to stop supporting new fossil fuel projects.

• TotalEnergies is increasing its fossil fuel production despite climate urgency; it plans to grow oil and gas production by 2 and 3% annually until 2028, meaning it will produce more in 2028 than in 2021. By 2030, oil and gas are expected to still constitute 80% of its produced energy mix.
• The company's growth in renewable energy capacity is primarily achieved through the acquisition of existing assets rather than the development of new ones. Between early 2020 and late 2022, TotalEnergies increased its gross installed renewable capacity by 13.8 GW, but 11.7 GW of that increase came from acquisitions, including stakes in ClearWay (USA) and Adani Green (India).
• TotalEnergies is significantly expanding its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) activities, aiming for a 50% increase in LNG production and shipments between 2023 and 2030. The report argues this is not diversification but a new transport method for gas that is more carbon-intensive than pipelines; for example, one oil-equivalent barrel of LNG imported into Europe emits over 70kg of carbon compared to 7kg for Norwegian gas via pipeline.
• The company's electricity and hydrogen strategies remain dependent on fossil fuels. Gas currently accounts for 69% of its electricity production (22.8 TWh), and the company plans to double its gas-based electricity production between 2023 and 2030. Additionally, its 'clean hydrogen' includes 'blue hydrogen' produced from fossil gas.
• The Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea is identified as a 'climate bomb' that could increase the country's industrial and energy sector emissions by 7%, contributing over 220 million tonnes of CO2 (scope 3). The project also poses human rights risks for 12,700 people across 39 villages.
• TotalEnergies uses Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and offsets to market 'carbon-neutral' LNG, but the report claims these are ineffective. For the Rio Grande LNG project in Texas, the Sierra Club estimates that CCS would only capture about 3% of the project's life-cycle emissions while increasing water usage by over 60%.

APA

Pinson, L. (2023). TOTALENERGIES : Faut-il croire à sa diversification ? Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/092023-TotalEnergies-Faut-il-croire-a-sa-diversification.pdf

Chicago

Pinson, Lucie. TOTALENERGIES : Faut-il croire à sa diversification ? Reclaim Finance, 2023. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/092023-TotalEnergies-Faut-il-croire-a-sa-diversification.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pinson |first1=Lucie |title=TOTALENERGIES : Faut-il croire à sa diversification ? |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=October 2023 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/092023-TotalEnergies-Faut-il-croire-a-sa-diversification.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pinson2023totalenergies, author = {Pinson, Lucie}, title = {{TOTALENERGIES : Faut-il croire à sa diversification ?}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/092023-TotalEnergies-Faut-il-croire-a-sa-diversification.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }