The logo of TotalEnergies is seen smeared during a Greenpeace protest against polluters in front of TotalEnergies' headquarters at the La Defense business district, west of Paris, on November 18, 2024. ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
Oil and gas giant TotalEnergies said on Friday, October 24, that it would not appeal a French court ruling that it engaged in "misleading commercial practices" by overstating its climate pledges.
The decision by a Paris court on Thursday was hailed by environmental activists as the first such ruling against a major oil company for climate misinformation. But TotalEnergies said the court's findings concerned only three paragraphs on its website regarding carbon-neutral goals for French consumers.
Those paragraphs will be replaced by "a factual description of what TotalEnergies has undertaken to date" to reduce its emissions footprint, the company said in a statement, justifying its decision not to appeal.
The Paris court ruled TotalEnergies made claims on its French consumer website that "misled" consumers into believing it could achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 while increasing oil and gas production.
