Luxembourg, 10 November 2021 – Today, Greenpeace activists demonstrated at the subsidiary of TotalEnergies in Luxembourg City to denounce the greenwashing practices of the oil giant. Despite the company’s renaming to “TotalEnergies” and its enormous investments to rebrand its image, oil and gas will remain the core business of the Total group for decades to come. Especially in the context of the current COP26 climate summit, which calls for steps towards a general phase-out of fossil energies, experts and NGOs warn against carbon offsetting and the marketing lies of polluters. The European Citizens’ Initiative “www.banfossilfuelads.org” aims to ban these greenwashing practices.
The Total Group is one of the five largest fossil fuel producers [1]. Its greenhouse gas emissions amount to 488 million tonnes per year, contributing to an average global temperature rise of +4°C [2]. At the same time, Total spends $52 million a year on its climate image, i.e. 29% of its marketing budget (the highest percentage among the five carbon majors) [3]. TotalEnergies also advertises voluntary carbon offsets on its Luxembourg website [4], claiming to offset the greenhouse gas emissions caused by its activities. However, most of the products the company sells could be replaced by truly climate-friendly renewables, for which the technologies already exist.
According to climate scientists, the world needs both an immediate, drastic and consistent reduction in emissions and the promotion of natural carbon sinks to achieve climate goals. “Offset mechanisms like the Redd+ programme supported by TotalEnergies allow continuous environmental pollution and promote the commercialisation of nature,” says Frank Thinnes, Climate and Energy campaigner at Greenpeace Luxembourg. “This model has already led to land grabbing, biodiversity loss and human rights violations.”
On a global level, the Total Group has set itself the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050 in terms of emissions from its direct activities, as well as those resulting from the use of its products [5]. However, in March 2021, the investor coalition Climate Action 100+ concluded that TotalEnergies only partially complies with its own climate criteria – and that, in any case, the company’s climate policy is not compatible with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C [6].
Greenpeace demands that the states participating in COP26 reject the industry’s plans to create a global market for carbon offsetting, because compensation mechanisms will only delay real climate action. Oil companies like TotalEnergies, however, are trying by all means to be able to continue marketing their climate-damaging products. This is why their lobbyists are present at the negotiations in Glasgow: the creation of carbon offset markets would give them a new loophole to pretend to the public that business-as-usual is acceptable. At the same time, they improve their image by planting trees, for example.
It’s time to ban the lies spread by oil companies. “Remember the cool cowboys in the Marlboro ads, like Wayne McLaren or David McLean? These gentlemen died as a result of smoking cigarettes. Back then, the cigarette industry’s advertising was misleading. Today, it’s the lies and greenwashing of fossil fuel companies like TotalEnergies that mislead consumers and thus destroy our climate and our future,” concludes Frank Thinnes.
Similar to the ban on tobacco advertising, Greenpeace and 20 other international organisations are calling for a ban on advertising for polluting companies whose actions do not comply with the Paris Agreement and which promote fossil fuels that harm and endanger millions of people. By participating in the European Citizens’ Initiative www.banfossilfuelads.org, everyone can support this demand. If the petition reaches one million signatures in Europe, the European Commission is obliged to consider the demands of the citizens’ initiative: this could lead to a European law.
Notes to editors:
[1] Exxon, Chevron, Shell, Total and BP.
[2] Oxfam France (2021) Climat: CAC degrés de trop – le modèle insoutenable des grandes entreprises françaises
[3] Influence Map, “Big Oil’s Real Agenda on Climate Change”, 2019, p. 12
[4] https://services.totalenergies.lu/
[6] https://www.climateaction100.org/company/Total/
Video: Uncover the greenwash scams of the global oil industry