Is TotalEnergies’ oil and gas expansionism putting French climate strategy in difficulty? Even more, does the group influence diplomacy so that it advances its interests? The Senate commission of inquiry into the activities of one of the main oil “majors” conducted its first hearings on Thursday January 25. In his viewfinder, the “means mobilized and mobilized by the State” to ensure that the group takes into account and respects both France’s climate obligations and its foreign policy orientations.
Chaired by Senator Roger Karoutchi (Les Républicains), the commission should hear, over the coming months, members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, representatives of the executive branch, leaders of organizations and companies, as well as the CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné. Its conclusions are expected in mid-June.
Launched by the environmental group in the Senate, the commission focused on Thursday on major energy and climate issues. “Total’s strategy is in complete contradiction with French climate policy, believes Yannick Jadot, environmentalist rapporteur and senator. This is a group that continues to invest massively in oil and gas, despite warnings from scientists. »
TotalEnergies, which has officially committed to achieving carbon neutrality in 2050, announced in September 2023 that it wanted to increase its hydrocarbon production by 2% to 3% per year over the next five years. It is also one of the companies in the sector to have approved the most new oil and gas projects in 2022. The International Energy Agency has stressed, from 2021, that any new investment in new oil and gas infrastructure is incompatible with the respect of the Paris climate agreement. President Emmanuel Macron and the government have, for their part, affirmed on several occasions that France would be “the first great nation to get out of oil”.
“Incestuous Bonds”
The parliamentary commission of inquiry does not intend to focus only on TotalEnergies’ insufficient climate commitments. “We want to understand what role French diplomacy plays in Total’s links with certain regimes: does it ensure that human rights and the principles of the Republic are preserved? »Yannick Jadot pretends to wonder.
Several NGOs, who welcomed the launch of this commission of inquiry, also want to highlight what they describe as “incestuous bonds” between TotalEnergies and the French State. Declarations of support for TotalEnergies projects abroad and for the signing of contracts, presence of Patrick Pouyanné in the French delegation during COP28 in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), maintenance of subsidies for fossil fuels… In July 2023, Emmanuel Macron, for example, supported the group’s controversial liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea.
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