“Climate activists are in their role to alert”, says Elisabeth Borne

“We all need to speed up the ecological transition.” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne estimated on Friday May 26 that “climate activists” were “in their role of alerting” by demonstrating near the General Meeting of shareholders of the TotalEnergies group, which they accuse of “greenwashing”.

“Climate activists are in their role to alert and say that we must speed up. This is also what the government is doing”, said the head of government on the sidelines of a trip to Côte-d’Or on Friday. Elisabeth Borne, however, acknowledged that the oil giant had “started its transition to renewable energies”.

The Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, had already called Patrick Pouyanné’s group on Friday morning to “go faster, stronger” putting “the packet” on renewable energies.

A tense climate in front of the Salle Pleyel

At dawn, several dozen demonstrators tried to enter the section of street in front of the Salle Pleyel, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, where the AG of the TotalEnergies group is held. The police forced them out. The demonstrators nevertheless remained nearby, about a hundred on each side of the street segment blocked by police and gendarmerie trucks. Four people have been arrested at this stage, according to the police.

“The climate is at the heart of our concern”affirmed the CEO of TotalEnergies in front of the shareholders in the morning, referring to the “credibility of the transition plan” of his group. This meeting comes at the end of a stormy AGM season, during which actions have multiplied against the major oil groups against a backdrop of staggering profits: together, BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and TotalEnergies show more than 40 billion in profits this quarter, after a great 2022.