Greenpeace France published an open letter on Wednesday to the director of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which will take place in France, asking him to exclude
TotalEnergies
as sponsors of the competition.
In its letter, Greenpeace France addressed directly to Claude Atcher, managing director of the 2023 Men's Rugby World Cup, to demand the "
breaking of the partnership
" with
TotalEnergies
.
Greenpeace explains that it was in contact at the end of last year with the organization, which wanted to make "
an event that respects the environment and is committed to the climate
".
“
The sponsorship of the 2023 Rugby World Cup by TotalEnergies was already a real aberration at the time of the climate emergency, it is all the more so today when the oil and gas major maintains its activities in Russia
”, condemned Edina Ifticene, oil and gas campaigner at Greenpeace France, quoted in a press release.
Greenpeace France ensures that
TotalEnergies
represents 1% of the funding for the competition.
TotalEnergies
has announced that it will renounce all purchases of Russian oil or petroleum products by the end of the year at the latest and will no longer provide capital for new projects in Russia, without however withdrawing from the country, which is very important for its strategy. and in which it has been established since the early 1990s.
In 2019, the oil group, which at the time was called Total, had given up sponsoring the Paris-2024 Olympic Games due to the reluctance of the Paris town hall.