The demonstration at French giant TotalEnergies caps a series of tumultuous shareholder meetings at major corporations in Europe as activists step up pressure on companies to reduce their carbon footprints.
Six French and Ugandan activist groups had accused the company of failing to protect people and the environment from the Tilenga oil development and the $3.5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline.
In what is the first legal move of its kind in France, oil and gas and giant TotalEnergies, the former Total, is the subject of an investigation by French public prosecutors which was opened after three NGOs filed a complaint accusing the group of “misleading commercial practices”. The complaint centres on the multinational’s claims over its credentials in policies for environmental protection and the limiting of global warming, including being a “major player” in energy transition, which the NGOs say amounts to deliberately deceptive “greenwashing”. Mickaël Correia reports.
French energy giant strongly denies claims it exploited a gas field used to manufacture kerosene that was used by Russian planes in their bombings in Ukraine.
Vehicle owners have faced increasingly long waits to fill their tanks after 10 days of strikes by workers demanding higher wages in response to soaring prices.
Walkout by trade union members at TotalEnergies has disrupted operations at two refineries and two storage facilities, while two Exxon Mobil refineries have faced similar problems.
TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy will collaborate on the North Field South project, a section of the world's largest single gas field nin a deal that could boost gas supplies to Europe from the Gulf state within four years.
The French company, now known as TotalEnergies, said it has decided to halt all its purchases of Russian oil and petroleum products by the end of the year.
The so-called Final Investment Decision should pave the way for the export of millions of barrels of oil that was first discovered in 2006 in Uganda, one of the world's most biodiverse regions.
He has not spoken about it publicly. But behind the scenes the French head of state Emmanuel Macron has written to the president of Uganda supporting the role of French oil firm Total in developing an oilfield and a lengthy new oil pipeline in the East African country. In the capital Kampala, meanwhile, the French embassy has been wholeheartedly lobbying for the French multinational. Yet the projects are opposed by environmental and human rights groups who say they are not just bad for the climate but will also displace thousands of local people from their land. Mediapart's environment correspondent Jade Lindgaard reports.
Total has begun to invest more in solar and wind power, but it is under pressure to do more as climate issues rise closer to the top of investors’ agendas.
