ASSESSMENT OF TOTALENERGIES’ CLIMATE STRATEGY

The report concludes that TotalEnergies' strategy prioritizes oil and gas expansion and shareholder returns over the energy transition. It finds that the company's 2030 production targets and LNG capacity expansions significantly overshoot NZE limits, while its renewable energy growth relies primarily on acquisitions rather than organic development. Furthermore, the report argues that TotalEnergies' diversification into gas power, blue hydrogen, and bioenergy is unsustainable and that its emissions targets rely heavily on unproven carbon capture and offset technologies.

• TotalEnergies' 2023 financial allocations prioritized fossil fuels and shareholders over clean energy; for every dollar invested in its integrated power business, the company invested 2.5 dollars in oil and gas and distributed 3.4 dollars to shareholders via dividends and buybacks.
• The company's oil and gas production is projected to be significantly higher than the IEA NZE alignment. Based on currently producing fields and short-term expansion, 2030 production will be 36% higher than the NZE; if the company meets its target of a 2-3% yearly increase by 2028, 2030 production will be 59% above NZE alignment.
• TotalEnergies' LNG strategy is not aligned with the NZE or the Announced Pledges Scenario (APS). By 2030, its total net liquefaction capacity is projected to reach 46.7 Mtpa, which is 173% higher than the NZE and 110% higher than the APS.
• The company's renewable energy strategy is characterized by the acquisition of existing capacities rather than organic growth. Even if targets are met, renewable power will represent less than 10% of the energy production mix by 2030, while oil and gas extraction will account for 82%.
• TotalEnergies is diversifying into energy sources the report deems unsustainable, including doubling its gas power production to 30 TWh by 2030 and targeting 1 Mtpa of "clean" hydrogen (including blue hydrogen with CCUS) and 1.5 Mtpa of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) by 2030.
• The company's emissions targets are criticized for their reliance on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and nature-based solutions (NBS). TotalEnergies plans to offset 5-10 Mtpa of CO2e through NBS and capture 10 Mtpa of CO2 to reduce scope 3 emissions by 2030.

APA

Delaporte, L.-M., Her, H., Gebel, B., Pinson, L., Faul, C., Hermant, R., Lentilhac, M., & Masson, A. (2024). ASSESSMENT OF TOTALENERGIES’ CLIMATE STRATEGY. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Assessment-of-TotalEnergies-Climate-Plan.pdf

Chicago

Delaporte, Louis-Maxence, Henri Her, Bastien Gebel, Lucie Pinson, Clément Faul, Rémi Hermant, Maude Lentilhac, and Agathe Masson. ASSESSMENT OF TOTALENERGIES’ CLIMATE STRATEGY. Reclaim Finance, 2024. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Assessment-of-TotalEnergies-Climate-Plan.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Delaporte |first1=Louis-Maxence |last2=Her |first2=Henri |last3=Gebel |first3=Bastien |last4=Pinson |first4=Lucie |last5=Faul |first5=Clément |last6=Hermant |first6=Rémi |last7=Lentilhac |first7=Maude |last8=Masson |first8=Agathe |title=ASSESSMENT OF TOTALENERGIES’ CLIMATE STRATEGY |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=April 2024 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Assessment-of-TotalEnergies-Climate-Plan.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{delaporte2024assessment, author = {Delaporte, Louis-Maxence and Her, Henri and Gebel, Bastien and Pinson, Lucie and Faul, Clément and Hermant, Rémi and Lentilhac, Maude and Masson, Agathe}, title = {{ASSESSMENT OF TOTALENERGIES’ CLIMATE STRATEGY}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2024}, month = apr, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Assessment-of-TotalEnergies-Climate-Plan.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }