TotalEnergies Gets Court Rebuke for Misleading Net Zero Vow (1)

TotalEnergies SE was chided by a Paris court for misleading consumers with climate pledges after changing its brand name from Total in 2021.

Judges ruled that by promoting its ambition to reach net zero, the energy major gave the impression it was aligned with Paris-Agreement science calling for an immediate cut in fossil-fuel output.

TotalEnergies’ campaign was “likely to mislead consumers,” according to the judges, because it didn’t specify that the company had its own scenario for achieving carbon neutrality, and that it was continuing to increase its production and investments in oil and gas. The court ordered the messages ...