The concentration of powers is being debated before the next general meeting of TotalEnergies (formerly Total), scheduled for Friday May 24. Thursday, April 18, the deadline for sending any text, shareholders of the oil and gas firm announced that they had submitted a draft resolution aimed at putting an end to the position of CEO, i.e. “to put an end to the accumulation of functions” president and general manager.
As is already the case for many French CAC 40 companies, the idea would be to assign these two responsibilities to two people. For the moment, at the Defense Major (Hauts-de-Seine), only Patrick Pouyanné is in charge. In office since 2014, the boss is preparing to run for a fourth three-year term.
It is the Swiss Ethos foundation which submitted this consultative resolution (without binding value), with the support of nineteen other shareholders. The coalition claims to have more than 1 billion euros of shares, or at least 0.6% of the energy heavyweight, the fourth largest market capitalization in France (nearly 162 billion euros). It also acts in conjunction with an association, the Forum for Responsible Investment (FIR).
“This shareholder resolution does not aim to call into question the role of Mr. Pouyanné as general manager, but to introduce better governance within the group”, say Ethos and the FIR in a press release. According to these structures, the appointment of a person other than Mr. Pouyanné to the position of president – that is to say to chair the board of directors – would contribute to “a better balance of powers”. “ [Leur] concentration in the hands of one and the same person indeed represents an intrinsic risk of conflicts of interest, to the extent that the role of the board of directors is to ensure that the general management of the company is exercised in the the interest of shareholders and all stakeholders. »
“Climate issues”
The signatories, wishing to influence the orientations of TotalEnergies, criticize it in particular for “insufficient climate strategy”. According to them, “the separation of roles could improve dialogue with the board of directors on climate and transition issues”. During the general meeting of May 2023, at the initiative of a previous group of shareholders, 30% of voters approved a resolution recommending more demanding climate objectives. Four months later, the major had nevertheless planned to increase its hydrocarbon production by 2% to 3% per year over five years.
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