a procedure by NGOs and communities deemed inadmissible by the Paris court

They asked the courts to compel TotalEnergies to align its climate strategy with the Paris agreement and to immediately cease all new hydrocarbon projects. NGOs and communities, including Paris and New York, saw their action deemed inadmissible, Thursday, July 6, by the Paris court.

According to the decision, this coalition did not respect the requirements of the negotiation phase that the law imposes before being able to take legal action against a large French company which does not respect its “duty of vigilance” on the human and environmental risks of his activities. The judge also considers that the communities, including Paris, New York, Grenoble and the Center-Val-de-Loire region are not entitled to take legal action in this case.

A “worrying” decision, according to the coalition

“This worrying decision restricts access to justice for associations and victims, in disputes based on the duty of vigilance”deplored the coalition of six associations and 16 communities, led by Sherpa and Notre Affaire à tous. “On a controversial procedural issue, the examination of the merits of the case is once again delayed, while TotalEnergies is still not taking the necessary measures to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions”she added, without specifying yet whether she would appeal this decision.

In the line of sight, the NGOs hope one day to obtain a French equivalent of the condemnation of Shell in 2021 in the Netherlands, when a court had demanded from the group an acceleration of its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“TotalEnergies takes note of the decision”reacted the group, recalling its commitment to“achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050, together with society”, that is to say that it conditions this ambition on the climate commitment of the countries. The group plans to devote a third of its investments to low-carbon energies in the decade, but remains associated with oil and soon even more with gas, its priority.