Greenpeace France estimates the true carbon footprint of TotalEnergies to be four times heavier than what the oil and gas giant reports. An assertion, released in a report by the NGO, which did not please the company. TotalEnergies is therefore suing Greenpeace France, opening the way to an unprecedented debate on carbon accounting methods.
Greenpeace France published a report in November called “TotalEnergies’ carbon footprint: the account is not there”, according to which TotalEnergies would have “a total emission of 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, whereas the group indicates that it emitted 455 million tonnes” in 2019. TotalEnergies immediately denounced a “questionable methodology” and threatened the NGO with legal action. Of which act, six months later.
A “questionable methodology”
“Greenpeace and X-Factor [le cabinet à qui le rapport a été commandé par l’ONG] disseminated false and misleading information, based on a questionable methodology and containing multiple errors, double counting and approximations, leading to an inconsistent result” on the calculation of the carbon footprint, the company said on Wednesday. Greenpeace itself announced its civil summons on Wednesday.
She believes it constitutes a “SLAPP” since the company is demanding that Greenpeace remove the report from its site and stop talking about it. “These civil proceedings are not completely trivial. Total could have attacked us for defamation” in criminal proceedings, or via “more classic procedures following a publication”, reacted Jean-François Julliard, director general of Greenpeace France. “There, we know that we left for several years” of written exchanges between the two parties.
Greenwashing charges
“We accept criticism and we accept that our strategy is criticized,” replied a spokesperson for TotalEnergies, denying any “gag”. But Greenpeace France and Factor-X have, according to the group, used “methodologies which they knew were necessarily faulty and which led to inconsistent results”. The summons before the Paris court aims to recognize the “damage suffered” by the company, he explains. TotalEnergies is claiming a symbolic euro in damages.
The procedure has an advantage, at a time when thousands of companies are promising carbon neutrality, a non-harmonised and poorly verified concept: it will “allow, at least, to have substantive discussions on the question of accounting carbon from Total,” added Jean-François Julliard. The same Paris court is also the jurisdiction of the civil proceedings brought this time by Greenpeace against TotalEnergies for greenwashing in its communication around its climate objectives, via the legal ground of misleading commercial practices.