Paris court orders TotalEnergies to account for consumer emissions

A Paris court ruled on Thursday that TotalEnergies ↗ 3.22% must account for the greenhouse gas emissions linked to its consumers' use of oil and gas products, giving the French energy major six months to revise its legally required risk assessment plan.apnews+2

The decision marks the first time France's 2017 corporate duty of vigilance law has been applied to climate-related risks, according to the coalition of NGOs and local authorities — including the City of Paris — that brought the case in 2020.earth+2

A Partial Victory

The ruling represents a mixed outcome for the plaintiffs. While the court agreed that TotalEnergies must identify and disclose the climate risks resulting from indirect emissions across its supply chain, it stopped short of ordering the company to halt new fossil fuel projects, reduce production, or set binding emissions reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree Celsius warming limit.usnews+1

The plaintiffs had sought sweeping measures, including an end to all new oil and gas exploration and a financial penalty of roughly €24 million per day for non-compliance. Instead, the court ordered TotalEnergies to present an updated vigilance plan within six months for judicial review.apnews+2

Years in the Making

The lawsuit has wound through the French courts since January 2020, when a coalition including Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, and several French municipalities first accused TotalEnergies of failing to include adequate greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures in its vigilance plan. A 2023 procedural ruling initially deemed the action inadmissible, but the Paris Court of Appeal reversed that decision in June 2024, allowing the case to proceed to a hearing on the merits held in February 2026.business-humanrights+2

TotalEnergies had argued that climate change falls outside the scope of the duty of vigilance law. The plaintiffs countered that the company's indirect emissions — from the burning of its products by end users — amounted to 342 million tonnes and must be addressed under the statute.yahoo+1

Broader Implications

The ruling arrives as TotalEnergies faces mounting legal pressure across Europe. A Belgian court ruled in March that a climate liability case brought by a farmer against the company could proceed, and in October 2025 a separate Paris court found TotalEnergies guilty of greenwashing for misleading consumers about its carbon neutrality ambitions.climatecasechart+3

Whether Thursday's order leads to substantive changes in the company's operations will depend on how the court evaluates TotalEnergies' revised vigilance plan when it is submitted in early 2027.