As he was preparing to join a conference during Cop27, Patrick Pouyanné, the boss of the French oil and gas giant, was arrested by a few activists, forcing him to briefly take shelter in the Guinea pavilion. “Are you going to use your dirty Russian money to rebuild Ukraine? says activist Svitlana Romanko. Patrick Pouyanné’s response does not fail to make his interlocutors react. “I surely will! replied the boss of Total at first.
This was followed by a quick, tense exchange with activists, who criticized TotalEnergies for carrying out projects in Russia and East Africa or even its participation in a conference on climate change – the root cause of which is the use fossil fuels.
“I have the right to be here,” replied the big French boss to one of them. “I respect you so respect me, that’s all I ask of you,” he added visibly annoyed. “We deliver gas to Europe because Europe needs it”, then justified Patrick Pouyanné, while claiming not to have answered the question on “Russian dirty money”.
“Today Mr. Pouyanné was arrested for the destructive impact of his company, from Eastern Europe to Africa, commented the Global Witness movement. He is just one of the 600 fossil industry lobbyists who have invaded the UN climate negotiations,” added the NGO ironically in its press release.
Despite the war in Ukraine and the international sanctions affecting Vladimir Putin’s regime, Total has maintained its presence at its liquefied natural gas site in Yamal, Russia.