This is a legal obligation from which TotalEnergies cannot escape. Each year, the company publishes its carbon footprint, the figures of its greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. For the year 2019, the last before the effects of Covid-19, the addition of its emissions amounted, according to the group, to 455 million tonnes of CO2.
This carbon footprint is three to four times lower than those declared by its competitors, with comparable turnover. Thus, for the same year, Exxon Mobil reported 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted. For its part, BP declared 1.4 billion tonnes.
“The gap is abyssal”
Such a discrepancy intrigued Greenpeace which, for a year, redid the calculations. According to the NGO Total Energies, it actually released more than 1.6 billion tons of CO2 in 2019. “We based ourselves on the production figures of TotalEnergies and on their economic activity figuressays François Chartier, one of the authors of the Greenpeace report. Everything is detailed: how much oil is extracted? How much is transformed? And we arrive at 1.6 billion. The gap is abysmal.“
“L’Œil du 20 heures” submitted the Greenpeace study to TotalEnergies. In a statement, the group disputes “totally their analysis”. “The Greenpeace figures are fanciful. (…) It counts the same emissions several times and calls into question the method of calculating our CO2 emissions”says TotalEnergies.
According to several experts we have consulted, the difference between the figures of the oil group and those of Greenpeace could be linked to what are called indirect CO2 emissions, those for example of our cars powered by fuels produced by TotalEnergies. The company would only partially recognize these emissions. A detrimental lack of clarity, according to César Dugast. “We are necessarily obliged to refer to transparent, shared data whose calculation is beyond doubt”says the engineer from the consulting firm Carbone4, which specializes in low-carbon strategies.
For its part, Total Energies ensures that it is as clear as possible in calculating its carbon footprint. The group says it refers to international standards that have been in force for nearly 25 years.
Among our sources (non-exhaustive list):
TotalEnergies
“TotalEnergies’ carbon footprint: the account is not there”, report by the NGO Greenpeace. November 2022
Carbon footprints declared by TotalEnergies
Carbon footprints reported by British Petroleum
Carbon footprints reported by Exxon Mobil
Consulting firm specializing in low carbon strategy, Carbone4