A coalition of investors led by the shareholder activism organization Follow This intends to present a consultative resolution at the general meeting of shareholders of the TotalEnergies group so that it “aligns its reduction objectives” of greenhouse gas emissions with the Paris agreement to 2030, announced. Thursday.
“The company’s current intensity target” for 2030 “will not lead to large-scale (net) emission reductions” from the entire company value chain (scope 3, in carbon accounting), the most Complete, write the coalition in your resolution.
The latter jointly manage $1.1 trillion and own 1.5% of the company. These include La Banque Postale AM, Edmond de Rothschild AM, La Financière de l’Echiquier, Mandarine Gestion and Sycomore AM.
On the occasion of the general meeting on May 26, they will ask the group to “align its existing reduction targets for 2030” with those of the 2015 Paris agreement, which aims to limit global warming below two degrees and if possible in 1.5°. C compared to the period 1850-1900.
Following this had already been at the origin of the first binding climate resolution for the company, presented in 2020 at the General Meeting of TotalEnergies. He got a 17% approval rating.
Patrick Pouyanné very critical
In 2022, TotalEnergies refused to allow a similar binding resolution to be put to a vote. Hence the presentation this year of a consultative resolution, “which therefore does not commit the company or its board of directors,” recalls the coalition.
In May, the head of the company denounced in BFM Business the actions of shareholders contrary to the company’s climate strategy who “maintain their shares or even increase them.” “There is a Tartuffe side to this, if I may say so,” said Patrick Pouyanné, even considering that they were “marketing behind the back” of the company.
In March, TotalEnergies announced the reinforcement of its short-term objectives to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions linked to petroleum products, but for the group as a whole “the objective of carbon emissions in 2030 continues to be higher than the emissions of 2022,” says Bertille Knuckey, manager of Sycomore AM.
Among its capital investments for 2030, TotalEnergies foresees “a third in low-carbon energies, around 30% destined to the development of new oil and gas projects, and the rest destined to the maintenance of the hydrocarbons portfolio”, according to the report. business.
“The strategy is to grow in natural gas, a stated ambition that is not compatible” with the company’s 2050 climate commitments, according to Ms Knuckey. In the face of the “increasingly pressing” climate emergency, “it is not possible not to question TotalEnergies about the consequences of its strategy,” she believes.
Source: BFM TV
