PIPELINE OF POLLUTION: Total responsible, Finance complicit?

The document argues that Total SE's carbon neutrality ambitions are 'window dressing' because they exclude global Scope 3 emissions and forecast increased hydrocarbon production. It highlights the contradiction between the climate pledges of major French banks and insurers and their continued financing of Total SE, including controversial projects like the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

• Total SE's carbon neutrality goal for 2050 is limited in scope, covering only global Scope 1 and 2 emissions (less than 15% of total emissions) and Scope 3 emissions only within Europe, despite Europe representing only 13% of its 2019 production.
• Total SE is projected to exceed the 1.5°C trajectory carbon budget by more than 200 million tons of CO2e by 2030, with hydrocarbon production expected to increase by over 50% between 2015 and 2030.
• Total SE's investment strategy remains heavily weighted toward fossil fuels, with 90% of capital expenditure oriented toward them between 2015-2020, and oil and gas production expected to capture nearly 80% of investments between 2026 and 2030.
• The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), stretching 1,445 kilometers from Uganda to Tanzania, is identified as a high-risk project that would likely result in over 33 million tons of CO2 emissions annually.
• Major French financial institutions maintain significant exposure to Total SE; the four largest French banks provided over USD 16 billion in financing between 2016 and 2020, with Crédit Agricole ($7.3 billion) and BNP Paribas (nearly $6 billion) as top financiers.
• A 2020 climate resolution filed by 11 shareholders to align Total SE with the Paris Agreement was opposed by 83.2% of votes, including those of AXA, Amundi, and Natixis, despite these firms' own net-zero commitments.
• Total SE's 'Rupture 2050' scenario is criticized for relying on unrealistic carbon capture and nature-based solutions, projecting 7.5 Gt of CO2 capture annually by 2050—214 times the 2018 level.

APA

Pinson, L., & de Bonnafos, F. (2021). PIPELINE OF POLLUTION: Total responsible, Finance complicit? Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Pipeline-of-Pollution-Total-responsible-Finance-complicit.pdf

Chicago

Pinson, Lucie, and Florence de Bonnafos. PIPELINE OF POLLUTION: Total responsible, Finance complicit? Reclaim Finance, 2021. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Pipeline-of-Pollution-Total-responsible-Finance-complicit.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pinson |first1=Lucie |last2=de Bonnafos |first2=Florence |title=PIPELINE OF POLLUTION: Total responsible, Finance complicit? |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=February 2021 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Pipeline-of-Pollution-Total-responsible-Finance-complicit.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pinson2021pipeline, author = {Pinson, Lucie and de Bonnafos, Florence}, title = {{PIPELINE OF POLLUTION: Total responsible, Finance complicit?}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2021}, month = feb, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Pipeline-of-Pollution-Total-responsible-Finance-complicit.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }