The ruling comes during a major heatwave in France and across Europe.
The logo of French oil and gas company TotalEnergies is seen at a petrol station in Paris, France, Mar 25, 2026. (Photo: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor)
26 Jun 2026 05:00AM
PARIS: A court in Paris ruled on Thursday (Jun 25) that energy company TotalEnergies must account for its consumers' greenhouse gas emissions, giving the French oil giant six months to report the environmental risks caused by the consumption of its gas and oil products.The decision, which comes amid a record heat wave in France, fell short of requests from the climate organisations who brought the lawsuit to force the company to reduce its oil and gas production.The court scheduled a new hearing for January to consider TotalEnergies’ new assessment under a 2017 law that requires companies to prevent human rights abuses and environmental risks. It's the first time that the so-called corporate duty of vigilance law is being applied to climate change.The law is not intended to make companies “responsible for the risks linked to climate change, which result from all human activity on the planet since the Industrial Revolution” the court said in a statement, but rather requests them to act “according to their own situation.”
