Business · Energy & Commodities · 6 hrs ago
TotalEnergies has dropped its 2050 carbon-neutrality goal
TotalEnergies, the French energy company formerly called Total, has dropped its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
It announced that goal in 2020, and says its emissions have fallen 28% since 2015.
Oil and gas made up 86% of its sales, down from 98% a decade earlier, while electricity now accounts for 12%.
The company says it invested more than €20 billion in renewable energy over five years, but it is also planning to produce more oil and gas.
Its target for the share of investment going to new oil projects by 2030 has risen from 30% to 35%, and this year the share was 40%; annual renewable spending has fallen.
Climate campaigners say the company is backing away from its climate commitments, while TotalEnergies says its ambitions in electricity remain intact.
The company also says its renewable electricity output is equivalent to more than 15 nuclear reactors, and a court found last year that it had misled consumers by promoting its role in the energy transition.
TotalEnergies dropped its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, according to a Franceinfo report.
The company had announced the goal in 2020 and formally abandoned it in a document in March.
TotalEnergies says its emissions have fallen 28% since 2015 and that it has invested more than €20 billion in renewables over five years.
The report says the company plans to produce more oil and gas, while its annual spending on renewables has declined.
Climate campaigner Justine Ripoll accused the company of shifting responsibility for climate action to governments and consumers.
- Who
- TotalEnergies, the French energy company.
- What
- It formally abandoned its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
- When
- The company announced the goal in 2020 and dropped it in a document in March; the year for March is not stated.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- CEO Patrick Pouyanné said the question was how to change energy demand, while France was asking the company to supply more oil. The report says the company considered the 2050 promise no longer tenable.
TotalEnergies
Notre Affaire à Tous
Climate responsibility
TotalEnergies
TotalEnergies says responsibility for the climate is shared and points to the need to change energy demand.
Notre Affaire à Tous
Justine Ripoll says the company is shifting blame to governments and consumers rather than pursuing the energy transition.
Energy transition record
TotalEnergies
The company says its ambitions in electricity remain intact and that it is investing more than its competitors.
Notre Affaire à Tous
The campaign group says the company has abandoned major climate goals and is not willing to transition.
TotalEnergies announced its goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.
Total changed its name to TotalEnergies.
The company formally abandoned its 2050 goal in a document.
CEO Patrick Pouyanné discussed energy demand in an interview on France Inter.
- 2050 goal
- Carbon neutrality
- Goal announced
- 2020
- Emissions change
- Down 28% since 2015
- Renewables investment
- More than €20 billion over five years
- Oil investment target
- Share for new oil projects in 2030 raised from 30% to 35%
What people are saying
We are all responsible for the climate and the first question to make things move quickly is how we change energy demand?
When TotalEnergies says that it is not their responsibility, that it is the responsibility of states or consumers, it is really a façade, which aims to show that they do not want to transition at all and that they will shift the blame onto others.
Starting from zero in 2020, TotalEnergies today produces renewable electricity equivalent to more than 15 nuclear reactors.