“Carbon neutral by 2050”. With these words, in 2021, TotalEnergies promised a green transition made of wind, solar and batteries. Too bad that, while displaying clean landscapes and gleaming panels, the group continued to expand oil and gas production.
Now that campaign has turned into a judicial boomerang: the civil court of Paris condemned the French giant for misleading advertising, recognizing that the messages on climate neutrality were “likely to alter consumer behavior”. In other words, greenwashing.
It is the first sentence in France to hit a large energy company for this reason. A symbolic but heavy victory for the three environmental organizations that had sued – Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Notre Affaire à Tous – and which for years have denounced the environmental disinformation of fossil multinationals.
The oil and gas giant said on Friday 24 October that it would not appeal the ruling. TotalEnergies will have to cancel the campaign, remove any misleading statements from the site and publish the text of the ruling on its homepage for 180 days. For each day of delay there will be a fine of up to 20 thousand euros. The NGOs will receive compensation of 8 thousand euros each, plus 15 thousand euros in legal costs.
Symbolic figures, but with a strong political and cultural impact. “It is a historical precedent against climate disinformation promoted by the oil giants,” commented the associations.
In 2021 Total changed its name to TotalEnergies, presenting itself as a group “committed to the energy transition”. But, while increasing investment in renewables, it has continued to expand oil and gas extraction. An impossible balance to maintain, according to the Parisian judges, if the declared objective remains carbon neutrality by 2050.
This is not an isolated case. In the United Kingdom, last April, the advertising regulator had already banned a TotalEnergies advert for “misleading omissions”. Similar measures have also hit Shell, Repsol, Petronas, and more recently KLM and Lufthansa, for presenting “green” campaigns that silenced the real impact of their activities.
The French ruling marks a turning point. For the first time, a court recognizes that greenwashing can be treated as a deceptive business practice, not just an ethical or communications issue. When the glossy images do not correspond to the facts, justice – and public opinion – can ask for the bill.
Sources: Le Monde
