TotalEnergies appeals Paris court ruling in climate case

TotalEnergies appeals Paris court ruling in climate case

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In 2020, several French NGOs and the City of Paris filed a lawsuit against TotalEnergies under France’s Duty of Vigilance Law, arguing that the company’s vigilance plan did not adequately address climate-related risks, particularly Scope 3 emissions resulting from the use of its oil and gas products by customers.

On 25 June 2026, the Paris Judicial Court partially ruled in favour of the claimants, finding that TotalEnergies must take into account climate risks linked to the use of its products, and update its vigilance plan accordingly.

At the same time,

the Court rejected the claims asking TotalEnergies to stop new oil and gas projects or reduce its oil and gas production. The ruling states that the Duty of Vigilance Law does not make companies responsible for all climate change impacts caused by human activity worldwide, and that it is not the Court’s role to set specific climate targets for the company. Furthermore, according to TotalEnergies, the Court noted that the company had included climate risks in its vigilance plan and had taken steps to reduce emissions from its own operations (Scopes 1 and 2), with targets for 2030.

However, the Court required TotalEnergies to include customers’ emissions (Scope 3) in its vigilance plan and update it accordingly. The company will therefore supplement its vigilance plan, drawing in particular on its sustainability report, which describes actions to help customers reduce their emissions, including through the development and sale of electricity and biofuels. The company also argues that reducing customers’ emissions depends on their own choices, such as buying electric vehicles, installing heat pumps or using biofuels.

Based on this argument,

the company has also challenged the judgment and filed an appeal, arguing that the duty of vigilance law is intended to drive responsible corporate behaviour with respect to risks of harm resulting from companies’ own activities, those of their subsidiaries and those of their suppliers and subcontractors, but does not encompass their clients’ activities over which companies do not have control.

„TotalEnergies does not decide whether a motorist chooses to drive a petrol-powered vehicle, use biodiesel, or drive an electric vehicle. However, TotalEnergies seeks to ensure that motorists have access to the energy they choose to use,” the company states.

„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. In this respect, it should be noted that the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) does not include customers’ activities within its scope.”

While TotalEnergies argues

that customers ultimately decide how they use energy, critics point out that energy companies also influence those choices by shaping the availability of alternatives, investing in different technologies, and engaging in policy discussions that can affect the direction of the energy transition.

According to the EU Transparency Register for lobby groups, TotalEnergies monitors regulatory and legislative developments in the energy and environment sectors within the framework of the Green Deal and all related legislative initiatives, the Clean Industrial Deal, the setting of the 2040 climate target and all the revisions and proposals that will accompany it, financial regulation and European research and innovation funding opportunities, the internal market, competition, external relations, and trade. The company focuses, among other things, on legislative proposals related to the environment and climate.

The case is significant because it may influence how corporate climate due diligence obligations are interpreted in France and across Europe, particularly regarding whether companies must address emissions generated through the use of their products.

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