Totalnergies in court for accusations of Greenwashing, a first in France – Liberation

Total « Deceived » Its customers with its climatic promises? The multinational petrogazière Responds this Thursday, June 5 to a civil court of accusations of « Landy advertisements » Brought by several NGOs, a first Greenwashing trial in France for an energy company. Three NGOs, Greenpeace France, Les Amis de la Terre France and our business to all, assigned the French group in March 2022 before the Paris judicial court for « Deceptive commercial practices » due to environmental allegations suggesting that the group could reach carbon neutrality while continuing to extract oil and gas.

At the heart of the case is the group’s communication campaign deployed from May 2021, especially on its website, in the press, on social networks and on television. At the time, Total had renamed totalness to underline its investments in low carbon energies, electricity in particular.

The group then displayed its goal of « Carbon neutrality by 2050 », by adding often « Together with society », and praised gas as « The least emitting fossil energy of greenhouse gases ». In total, around forty messages are targeted in court, « Landy advertisements » According to NGOs not reflecting « In a sincere way the reality of total activities », Apolline Cagnat, legal manager of Greenpeace, told AFP. Opposite, the group disputes nature « Advertising » Or « Commercial » of these messages which, according to him, fall under « Its institutional communication », Supervised by stock market law and the rules of the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), and not by consumer law.

For years, for lack of a clear framework, companies have communicated abundantly on their environmental policies, claiming carbon neutrality or using vague terms such as « Green », « sustainable » Or « Eco -responsible ». Which prompted climate activists to seize justice to try to obtain case law on the Greenwashing, The fact of claiming to be more virtuous than one is, via consumer law.

In Europe, courts have already pinned the KLM airlines for eco -building in 2024, and Lufthansa, in March. But in energy, the Spanish energetician Iberdrola failed to have the Iberian Pétrogazier group REPSOL, who was prosecuted for having presented environmental information condemned « False » in his marketing communications. In France, the procedure, based on a European directive relating to unfair commercial practices, is unprecedented for a hydrocarbon company.

For associations, Totalnergies has misleaded consumers by displaying « Total greening » of his image, « Who has absolutely not objectively, sincere and transparent as required by the directive, the reality of its production and its investments », « largely based on fossil fuels », More and more gas, which the group presents as an alternative to oil and coal. The court goes, they underline, « Judge, uniquely on an international scale, the legality of advertisements presenting gas as an energy essential to the transition », Despite its climate assessment disputed by climate experts, due to methane leaks, in power very warm for the atmosphere.

Totalnergies ensures that« No misleading commercial practice can be criticized for it ». The group sees in this procedure, with which no consumer organization is associated, a diversion of consumer law to attack its strategy. He hears « Exposing how communications (…) on its name change, its strategy and its role in the energy transition are reliable and based on objective and verifiable data », said his management, by highlighting the progress of the company: « Investments, new professions, significant drop in direct greenhouse gas emissions … »

Associations in particular ask court « To order the immediate cessation under the penalty of misleading commercial practices », which would be a « Strong signal » Towards hydrocarbon companies, according to Apolline Cagnat. Besides this civil procedure, other associations attacked with a different legal arsenal, this time in criminal « Deceptive commercial practices ». And in this case, the Nanterre prosecution is investigating.