The CEO of TotalEnergies invited his shareholders on Friday to validate his strategy, promising them to stay “the course” during his annual general meeting which finally took place smoothly, away from environmental activists.
Patrick Pouyanné, CEO for ten years, must be renewed for a three-year term at this meeting at his Defense headquarters, where some 750 shareholders took place in a main room and an annex room.
The CEO promised them to “stay the course”, a way of standing out from its competitors BP and Shell, which have announced a slowdown in the pace of their energy transition.
“I confirm to you, no need to say it, but if some doubt that we will stay the course of this balanced strategy”, between oil and gas on the one hand, and low carbon energies on the other, declared the CEO of 60 years old, whose company prides itself on being more profitable, less indebted, more solid, and more generous for its shareholders.
“TotalEnergies demonstrates every day that it is possible once again to be a profitable company, even the most profitable, while transforming” and “investing in the energies of tomorrow,” he added. While recalling that it was “necessary” to put “new” oil fields into production, going against the recommendations of the International Agency whose carbon neutrality scenario in 2050 bans any new oil and gas projects.
Interrogations at Amundi
From 9 a.m., Greenpeace activists had deployed a gigantic “Wanted” banner on a building a few hundred meters from the group’s headquarters, showing
The tension was in fact concentrated at another general meeting, in Paris, that of the French asset manager Amundi, one of the first shareholders of TotalEnergies, where several hundred Extinction Rebellion activists gathered. Among the chants, that of “Amundi accomplice”.
Several dozen people entered the premises by force, before leaving. Damages were committed and security agents injured, said a police Source.
Many activists were arrested, with police surrounding around 200 other people in a trap.
Climate and emissions
The group remains under fire from climate defenders who accuse it of worsening global warming and harming biodiversity and human rights, due to its activities in gas and oil.
“We denounce the expansion strategy of TotalEnergies, which is still oriented towards the development of fossils, despite a green speech,” Edina Ifticene, of Greenpeace, explained to AFP.
Activists from multiple organizations, including Extinction Rebellion, are demanding the “abandonment” of flagship projects in Uganda/Tanzania, Mozambique and Papua New Guinea and, as recommended by the International Energy Agency, “stopping of any investment in new fossil projects”.
Shareholders will be called upon to validate TotalEnergies’ climate strategy on Friday, with some investors also calling for a more ambitious energy transition.
Last year, a purely consultative resolution from activist shareholders received 30.4% of the votes.
It asked the company to align its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets with the 2015 Paris Agreement, to limit global warming to +1.5°C compared to the pre -industrial (the world is already at around 1.2°C).
This time, no consultative resolution is expected.
The fiery leader also solemnly reiterated to his shareholders that he was not considering leaving France, after the controversy sparked by his declarations on a possible relocation of the main listing of the group from Paris to the New York Stock Exchange, which made Emmanuel Macron react.
As for the climate, the CEO repeats that TotalEnergies is “the oil group most involved in the energy transition”. A third of its investments is devoted to low-carbon energy.
But in September, the think tank Carbon Tracker estimated that “only” the Italian oil company Eni had emissions reduction targets “potentially” aligned with the Paris agreement. TotalEnergies came second before Repsol and BP, far ahead of the Saudi Aramco and the American ExxonMobil.
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