TotalEnergies is not spared from public debate.
At the heart of the discussions on superprofits and their possible taxation, the French multinational is also the subject of a legal action in which the cities of Paris and New York joined yesterday, with a bang, while a new hearing was held at the Paris court.
A way for the two international communities to draw attention to this legal procedure against TotalEnergies, launched two and a half years ago.
At the time, the association Notre affaires à tous had launched legal action to force the group to comply with the environmental requirements set out in international treaties.
It had immediately received the support of other associations, including France Nature Environnement, and communities, such as Grenoble or Nanterre.
Alongside New York and Paris, the Amnesty International association also announced yesterday that it was joining the legal action.
“State inaction”
"With this trial, we want to force a key player in energy to respect the Paris agreement
," said the mayor of the city of the same name, Anne Hidalgo, after having listed the
"consequences of global warming"
.
If the mayor of Paris has recognized the "
symbolic
" nature of the case, it can help to
"restore hope"
.
In a video message posted on her Twitter account, Anne Hidalgo punctuated her remarks with political overtones.
Thus she tackled
"the inaction of the State"
in the face
of "a thirst for justice"
, to which she intends to respond.
The legal action is based on the law of March 27, 2017 relating to the duty of care of parent companies and ordering companies.
Since then, companies with more than 5,000 employees must regularly publish a vigilance plan detailing their actions to identify and prevent risks and damage to the environment in particular.
The vigilance measures taken by TotalEnergies are considered insufficient by the associations which have decided to file a complaint.
Read alsoThe crime of ecocide, a new threat for companies
Another European oil company has already been condemned for the same reasons.
The Anglo-Dutch Shell was forced by the court in The Hague to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% net by the end of 2030 compared to 2019. This legal procedure, called "
the people against Shell
", had been launched in April 2019 by several NGOs, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace.
More than 17,000 Dutch citizens had also instituted civil proceedings.
Shell appealed the decision.
