TotalEnergies Will Appeal French Court Order on Climate Duty Case
Key Takeaways
- •TotalEnergies announced it will challenge the Paris Judicial Court’s climate ruling before the Paris Court of Appeal.
- •The company said the decision was issued under France’s duty of vigilance law and argued that global climate change is outside that law’s scope.
- •TotalEnergies also contended that companies in energy and other sectors should not be made responsible for risks arising from customers’ use of their products.
- •The case is part of a broader wave of European climate litigation targeting emissions linked to major energy companies’ operations and products.
- •Shell has also faced climate-related lawsuits in the Netherlands, including a new case filed in April and a 2024 appeals ruling that overturned an earlier emissions-cut order.
TotalEnergies said it will appeal a landmark decision by the Paris Judicial Court last month that ordered the French supermajor to align its business with climate goals and held it responsible for climate change.
In a statement on Monday, TotalEnergies said it had decided to challenge the ruling, which was issued under France’s duty of vigilance law. The company argued that “climate change, as a global phenomenon, does not fall within the scope of the duty of vigilance law.”
The French supermajor also said that “imposing companies in energy, defense, aeronautics, or automotive sectors to control risks resulting from the use of their products by their customers does not appear to be consistent with the objectives of the law, or the principles of legal certainty and freedom to conduct business.”
“TotalEnergies does not decide whether a motorist chooses to drive a petrol-powered vehicle, use biodiesel, or drive an electric vehicle,” the oil and gas company said, adding that it “seeks to ensure that motorists have access to the energy they choose to use.”
The company said it would present its arguments before the Paris Court of Appeal.
The case adds to a broader pattern of European climate litigation that has increasingly tested how far courts can push large energy companies to account for emissions linked not only to their own operations, but also to the use of their products by customers. For TotalEnergies, the appeal will determine how the Paris ruling is reviewed within France’s legal framework, where the duty of vigilance law has become a key tool for challenging corporate climate policies.
TotalEnergies is not the only European major facing climate-related litigation in court. Shell has been involved in a climate lawsuit in Dutch courts for half a decade.
In April, environmental activists filed a new lawsuit against Shell in the Netherlands, asking the company to stop bringing new oil and gas fields on stream in order to avoid additional emissions.
In 2024, a Dutch court of appeal ruled in Shell’s favor in the first landmark climate case, overturning a lower court decision that had required the company to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
The Court of Appeal of The Hague overturned the 2021 ruling of the District Court of The Hague in the case brought by environmental group Milieudefensie, other NGOs, and a group of private individuals.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com