TotalEnergies: Fighting and tear gas in front of the general meeting

The TotalEnergies AGM on Friday 26 May promises to be a busy one. Since dawn, even before its opening, clashes broke out between demonstrators and police, as well as shareholders who also disagree with the climate policy of the French group specializing in hydrocarbons.

Dozens of activists tried to get in front of the Salisbury, where the General Assembly will be held, in a posh area of ​​Paris. According to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist, some of those who were sitting near the entrance were chased away by police, leading to a fight.

Police also used tear gas. After three warnings were sounded in less than a minute, police fired tear gas into the crowd of activists sitting on the ground. A coalition of non-governmental organizations called for the meeting to be blocked, and dozens of activists occupied the entrance to the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, singing in particular. “What we want is to topple the total” and “One, two and three degrees, that’s all we have to be thankful for”.

The authorities are expecting 200 to 400 activists

The meeting comes at the end of a stormy General Assemblies (GA) season, where activists have multiplied actions against big groups such as rivals Shell and BP or bank Barclays, accused of expanding hydrocarbon projects. All amid stunning profits: Together, majors BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and TotalEnergies posted more than $40 billion in profits this quarter, a grand total after 2022.

In a sign of the expected tension, TotalEnergies will ban shareholders and journalists from using mobile phones and force them to leave certain personal items at the entrance. First of all, the group wants to avoid last year’s chaotic scenario, when NGO activists prevented shareholders from attending the General Parliamentary Assembly.

The authorities expect the presence of 200 to 400 activists, who “I absolutely want to prevent GA from taking place”According to a police source. “Total’s AGM will not be held”350.org, Alternatiba, Friends of Earth, ANV-COP21, Attac, Greenpeace, Scientists in Rebellion and XR were immediately alerted to the late April forum. “This General Assembly plans to maintain the oil company strategy: more fossil fuel projects and unfair distribution of super profits that contribute to climate and social injustice.”condemned

Among the hot topics, nearly 1.5 million individual shareholders, both current and online, are being called to vote on an advisory resolution from activist shareholder organization Follow This, which primarily addresses indirect COs.₂. In other words, that related to the use of oil by its customers in cars or for heating (Area 3 in carbon accounting), which is equivalent to 85% of its carbon footprint.

Conflict over two climate decisions

The organization is asking Total to align its reduction targets with the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to +1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era. Among the coalition of 17 investors that own almost 1.5% of TotalEnergies are La banque PostaleAM, Edmond de Rotschild AM, La Financière de l’Echiquier.

The group recommends voting against the resolution “against the interests” of total energy, “of its shareholders and customers”. Nevertheless, the major will support its climate efforts and encourage its shareholders “pro voice” With its own climate resolution. This official strategy primarily focuses on its direct emissions from its operations and the energy it consumes (so-called “Scope 1 and 2”).

Even if the group does not plan to drastically reduce direct emissions within a decade, it intends to devote a third of its investments to low-carbon energy and to reach 100 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030. “It’s the hydrocarbon revenue that allows us to make massive investments and develop renewable energy.”CEO Patrick Pouyanne claimed in an interview with the magazine on Wednesday. challenges.

The group is represented in many liquefied natural gas and oil projects in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Papua or Uganda, with the controversial Eacop heating pipeline project, which has become a media symbol of the fight against oil. “We [n’]I didn’t know how to wait”said Mr. Puyane challenges The controversy, which adds to many others for the group, also criticized its record profit of 20.5 billion dollars (19.12 billion euros) in 2022, its taxes in France or the salary of the CEO. Increasing his compensation by 10% by 2023 is also on the agenda of the general meeting.