Paris, 26 May 2023 – At TotalEnergies’ Annual General Meeting (AGM) this morning, amidst a lively protest from civil society, shareholders approved the company’s climate plan by 88.76%. This was a high level of support, similar to last year, despite TotalEnergies’ climate strategy being incompatible with the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Conversely, the climate resolution tabled by shareholders received 30.44% approval, a much higher level of support than seen for similar resolutions at Shell and BP’s AGMs.. Reclaim Finance welcomes the action of shareholders who, despite being in the minority, are acting to force TotalEnergies to review its strategy in depth, and denounces the hypocrisy of shareholders who unconditionally support the company despite their own climate commitments. The NGO is calling on investors to go beyond the voting game by suspending all new investments as long as the company continues to develop new fossil fuel projects.
Despite the recent call by almost 200 scientists and experts to vote against the climate strategy of TotalEnergies (1), the world’s 7th largest developer of oil and gas production projects (2), the strategy was approved by almost 88.76%. This is similar to 2022. As with Shell and Repsol, shareholders chose not to sanction the company, even though none of them has a climate plan in line with the International Energy Agency’s scenario for limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
While activists held up signs saying ‘Total destroys, the banks finance’, the majority of shareholders once again gave their unwavering support to the oil giant as it prepares to develop new climate bombs. Along with greed, hypocrisy is certainly one of the primary traits of investors. The fat dividends paid to them are always their preference, far ahead of climate stability and a peaceful, sustainable world. By voting for TotalEnergies’ bogus climate plan and against the external resolution, they are not only trampling on their own climate commitments, but also on the rights of the people on the front line of the impacts of the projects developed by the major and of climate disruption.
Lucie Pinson, founder and director of Reclaim Finance
The climate resolution tabled by a coalition of 17 investors (3), calling on TotalEnergies to align its targets for reducing its indirect greenhouse gas emissions, known as “scope 3”, with the Paris Agreement by 2030 (4), was also put to the vote (5). Although the abstention rate is not yet known, it was approved by 30% of shareholders, which is higher than a similar vote in 2020 and more than the votes for similar resolutions at the BP (16.75%) and Shell (20.19%) AGMs.
The increased support for the climate resolution demonstrates the growing number of shareholders who doubt the effectiveness of TotalEnergies’ so-called climate strategy. But many are still struggling to vote in line with this observation, and voting at the AGM will not be enough to push TotalEnergies to abandon its oil and gas expansion strategy. It is time for minority shareholders who want to stop contributing to the worsening of climate change to supplement their voting and commitment policy with an immediate suspension of all investment in companies which, like TotalEnergies, continue to rely on fossil fuels and their development. This is already the strategy of investors such as CNP Assurances, a strategy of integrity that has already proved its worth and must now be replicated by other investors.
Lucie Pinson, founder and director of Reclaim Finance
Details of the votes are not public, and we will have to wait several weeks to find out how the group’s main shareholders voted. After opposing a climate resolution similar to the one tabled today in 2020, Amundi, TotalEnergies’ largest shareholder, approved its climate plan in 2021 and 2022. The same applies to AXA IM. BNP Paribas, which abstained in 2020, also approved the major’s plan in subsequent years.
These investors, who play a crucial role in the development of TotalEnergies, have been called upon as part of the new international “Defund TotalEnergies” campaign launched by a coalition of NGOs, including Reclaim Finance. The campaign calls on the banks and investors behind TotalEnergies to withhold further support from the French oil major until it has given up developing new fossil fuel projects. These projects have an impact on local communities, destroy ecosystems and threaten the climate because they will contribute to the emission of around 2.3 gigatonnes of CO2e, equivalent to what France emits in 6 years.
