Total was aware of the harmful consequences of its activities for the climate as early as 1971 but maintained doubts at the end of the 1980s and then sought to thwart efforts to limit the use of these fossil fuels, according to a scientific article published on Wednesday. Christophe Bonneuil, research director at the CNRS, Pierre-Louis Choquet, sociologist at Sciences Po, and Benjamin Franta, researcher in history at the American University of Stanford, studied the archives of the oil group, now TotalEnergies, as well as internal reviews and interviews, according to this article published in the journal Global Environmental Change.
A publication in the journal of Total, in 1971, explained that the combustion of fossil fuels leads “to the release of enormous quantities of carbon dioxide” and to an increase in the quantity of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A “rather worrying increase (…)”, noted the text of 1971. However, the group ignored this subject, note the researchers. In the mid-1980s, the American giant Exxon, via the Oil Industry Environmental Association (IPIECA), led an international campaign by oil groups to “challenge climate science and weaken controls on fossil fuels. “, Continue the researchers.
Pressure on the political world
Bernard Tramier, director of the environment at Elf then Total from 1983 to 2003, quoted in the article, says he was informed of the importance of global warming during an IPIECA meeting in 1984. Two years later , he alerted Elf’s executive committee, saying: “So it is obvious that the oil industry will once again have to prepare to defend itself. ”
At the same time, Total and Elf lobbied “successfully against policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions”, while seeking to acquire environmental credibility through voluntary commitments, the study suggests. Wednesday. At the end of the 1990s, the approach changed. UN climate experts, the IPCC, published their first report in 1990. The Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 led to the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Kyoto protocol was adopted in 1997.
Change of strategy in the 2000s
In the mid-2000s, a new strategy. The Total group is hosting a conference on climate change in September 2006. Its then CEO, Thierry Desmaret, recognizes the reality of climate change and the conclusions of the IPCC. Total “begins to promote a division of roles between science and business, where science describes climate change and businesses claim to solve it”, thus claiming its legitimacy to influence public and business policies and highlighting its ” energetic transition “.
“The leaders of Total (…) recognized the existence of climate change and the link with the activities of the oil industry” and since 2015, the company has aimed to “be a major player in the energy transition”, continues -he. A 2017 study showed that the US oil group ExxonMobil had known since the 1980s that climate change was real and caused by human activities. But the group has struggled for years to maintain doubts about this reality, thus deceiving its shareholders and citizens.