Press release – <\/span><\/b><\/span>Reclaim Finance and Greenpeace France<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Paris \u2013 28th May 2021 – <\/span><\/span><\/b>91.88% of Total\u2019s shareholders have backed its climate strategy, submitted for the first time to the oil and gas giant\u2019s AGM today (1). Reclaim Finance and Greenpeace welcome the shareholders who voted against the \u2018bogus\u2019 climate plan, while furiously condemning the large majority who backed Total\u2019s plan for increased fossil fuel extraction. These investors had chosen to be \u201con the wrong side of history\u201d, the NGOs argued, referencing a study from the International Energy Agency last week that reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 means no new fossil projects – Total\u2019s strategy plans for an expansion of oil and gas production (2).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> 8.12% thus voted directly against the climate strategy; <\/b><\/span>the abstention rate is not yet known, though some players such as Cr\u00e9dit Mutuel announced their abstention in advance. While most votes at the AGM ranged between 97 and 99%, <\/span>the vote compares unfavourably with the 16.8% of shareholders who had supported a climate resolution at Total\u2019s 2020 AGM,<\/b><\/span> with some of its proposers now backing Total (3).<\/span><\/p>\n In a similar vote last week, 11% of Shell\u2019s shareholders voted against its energy transition plan (4), demonstrating a reluctance amongst investors to oppose oil majors outright. This led to the contradictory situation whereby AXA and Amundi signed a statement recognizing the insufficiency of Total\u2019s strategy last week, before voting for it this week<\/b> (5). Campaigners attacked investors for \u201cblatant hypocrisy\u201d in regard to their climate commitments.<\/p>\n Lucie Pinson, Founder and Executive Director at Reclaim Finance, said:<\/b> <\/span>\u201cBy supporting Total\u2019s greenwashed strategy, shareholders have voted willingly for climate chaos. In blatantly disregarding the International Energy Agency\u2019s unambiguous recommendations and giving a green light to Total\u2019s oil and gas expansion plans, shareholders like AXA, BNP Paribas and Amundi have made a mockery of their own climate commitments. Nonetheless, we salute the investors, who defied Total to assert the demands of climate science. Unlike their peers, they have shown themselves to be concerned with the substance of climate action, not just the appearance of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Numerous investors had announced their intention to oppose the climate strategy in the run up to the AGM, among them Meeschaert and Ircantec, two important investors in the influential Climate Action 100+ investor group (6). La Banque Postale was also reported to have voted against, while the large French bank Cr\u00e9dit Mutuel abstained with a critique of the weaknesses of Total\u2019s climate plan (6).<\/p>\n Investors cited an array of failures in Total\u2019s climate plan in a series of accompanying statements: the major\u2019s failure to put an end to its exploration and prospecting of new oil and gas reserves, as the IEA recommended; a lack of clarity on how Total would reach its climate goals while still dedicating 80% of its capital investment to oil and gas; and the oil giant\u2019s controversial projects, such as the EACOP in East Africa, and others in Myanmar and the Arctic.<\/p>\n Edina Iftic\u00e8ne, oil campaigner at Greenpeace France, said<\/b>: <\/span>\u201cTotal might have cajoled its shareholders but there\u2019s no bartering with climate science: its oil and gas expansion plans are at odds with a liveable future. The IEA has confirmed that there can be no new fossil fuel projects if we want to live in a climate-safe world. But Total is now saying the IEA is too radical and is ploughing ahead with a bogus climate strategy which expands gas production by 30% and doubles down on oil. Shareholders claim to care about climate but are giving Total carte blanche to wreck the climate. History will judge them harshly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Total\u2019s top investor, Amundi, was unmoved by these arguments, justifying its vote in favour of the strategy by praising Total\u2019s decision to consult its shareholders on climate and to link director pay to absolute CO2 emissions reduction. Unfortunately, Total has not indicated any plan to repeat the exercise,<\/b> unlike Shell, and the pay adjustments won\u2019t have any significant effect on the group\u2019s climate objective.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mask has slipped – investors like Amundi and AXA seem to care more about the appearance of climate action than the reality of it.\u201d, concludes Lucie Pinson<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
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