A coalition of investors, led by the association Follow This, intends to table a resolution at the general meeting of shareholders of the TotalEnergies group to ask it to improve its performance in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
On the occasion of the general meeting on May 26, they will require the group to “aligns its existing reduction targets for 2030” with those of the Paris agreement, which aims to limit global warming to below two degrees.
Follow This had already been at the origin of a first binding climate resolution for the company, tabled in 2020 at the GM of TotalEnergies. She had garnered 17% approval.
Owners of 1.5% of TotalEnergies
The 17 investors gathered to sign this resolution manage more than 1,000 billion euros and hold 1.5% of the company. Among them are La Banque Postale AM, Edmond de Rothschild AM, La Financière de l’Échiquier, Tocqueville Finance, Ofi Invest AM, Degroof Petercam AM, Mandarine Gestion and Sycomore AM.
The resolution is only advisory, but the shareholders involved expect a lot from it. “Even passed, it will not force TotalEnergies to take decisions, but it is a strong signal sent to the company on the need to do more on the climate”summarizes Lucie Pinson, founder of Reclaim Finance, an NGO that strives to green the financial sector.
This is also the message of Follow This: “If we don’t meet the Paris Agreement targets, the effects of climate change are going to be very severe and shareholders will no longer be able to get the same returns on investment,” explains Ursch McKenzie, the director of the legal department of the Dutch NGO.
Targeted “scope 3” emissions
In their resolution, investors will target in particular “scope 3” greenhouse gas emissions, which are not linked to the extraction or refining of oil, but to the consumption of products by customers.
This category of emissions represents about 90% of the emissions of the oil and gas giants. However, TotalEnergies has not planned to reduce the carbon footprint of its “scope 3” by 2030. The company plans to 400 million tons of CO2 emitted on this date, i.e. 11 million additional tonnes compared to 2022.
“We are increasingly realizing that the group’s strategy is at odds with what should be done to effectively combat climate change”judge Bertille Knuckey, manager of socially responsible investments at Sycomore AM, a fund that participated in the development of the resolution. “It is our duty to challenge the company on this subject, while remaining pragmatic and keeping in mind why shareholders have always invested in the group”she says.
TotalEnergies is “not yet” in transition
Lucie Pinson agrees: “TotalEnergies is always expanding, not transitioning. The company foresees an increase in its production of hydrocarbons, and renewables supplement the fossil supply, instead of replacing it. »
The year 2030 was not chosen at random by the initiators of the resolution. “As the latest IPCC report reminds us, we must act now, we cannot wait”, justifies Ursch McKenzie of Follow This. For Lucie Pinson, the objective counts as much as the road ahead. “It’s as if we said to ourselves that we were going to eat a lot and then go on a diet in 2030. It will already be too late. We will already be in danger because we will have contributed to emitting more each year than is possible. »
In 2022, the same resolution had already been tabled by 10 investment funds, but rejected before its presentation to the General Meeting “under the pretext that it encroached on the prerogatives of the Board of Directors”, remembers Bertille Knuckey. A difficult decision to understand knowing that TotalEnergies is one of the twelve groups on the French side which decided in 2021 to submit their climate strategy to the vote at the General Assembly.
« Say on climate »
Ce « say on climate » (Climate Opinion) draws on « say on pay » (payment advice), resolutions submitting executive compensation to a shareholder vote.
Contacted by La Croix, the management of the TotalEnergies group “reaffirms its commitment made in May 2021 to report to the annual GA on the progress made in terms of sustainable development and the energy transition towards carbon neutrality, which it will do again in May 2023”.
The group’s Board of Directors will meet on April 26 to examine the resolution and decide whether it can be put to the vote of shareholders at the general meeting.