by Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A Belgian breeder took TotalEnergies to court on Wednesday, accusing it of being responsible for the impact of climate change on its activities and demanding that the French oil giant stop investing in new projects linked to fossil fuels.
The case, filed Wednesday at the Tournai commercial court, is the first legal action linked to climate change to target a multinational in Belgium.
A TotalEnergies spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
Read also…
Hugues Falys, a cattle farmer in the commune of Lessines, Hainaut, is seeking to force TotalEnergies to review its business plan, including by immediately ceasing to invest in new fossil fuel projects and reducing its oil production and gas by 47% by 2030.
He is also seeking damages which, if he is successful, he will donate to a sustainable agriculture organization.
The case is part of a growing wave of climate-related litigation, with 2,180 cases registered globally by the end of 2022, in a context of worsening effects of global warming. planet.
This complaint is unusual, however, because it targets a fossil fuel company for damages caused in a country other than where the company is based.
DEPENDENCE ON CLIMATE
Hugues Falys, supported by three NGOs, argues that TotalEnergies, which is among the top 20 CO2 emitting companies in the world, is partly responsible for the damage caused to its activities by extreme weather conditions from 2016 to 2022.
During this period, an extreme storm and successive droughts reduced the yields of his crops and grasslands, forcing him to purchase animal feed and ultimately reduce the size of his herd.
He claims that TotalEnergies did not respect a principle of law which states that whoever causes damage must repair it.
“This case reinforces the message that big polluters have duties and accountability wherever they do business, direct their products and cause harm,” commented Nikki Reisch, director of the Center for International Environmental Law.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett, with contributions from America Hernandez; French version by Kate Entringer)
©2024 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.