Paris, France

Thursday, October 23, 2025

By Nathalie ALONSO

The oil company TotalEnergies was condemned on Thursday by the French courts for misleading commercial practices in promoting its commitments to carbon neutrality by 2050, the first ruling of its kind against a major oil company.

This is “the first ruling in the world to find that a major oil and gas company has misled the public by greenwashing its image,” said the NGO ClientEarth, which closely follows case law on greenwashing against the oil and gas industry and supported the plaintiff associations.

The Paris Court of Justice ruled that TotalEnergies and its subsidiary TotalEnergies Electricité et Gaz had made environmental claims on the commercial website totalenergies.fr that “were likely to alter consumer purchasing behavior” and were likely to “mislead” consumers into believing that it could achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 while increasing oil and gas production, according to a court statement on the civil proceedings.

However, the court rejected the associations’ claims regarding TotalEnergies’ allegations about fossil gas and agrofuels.

The case was brought before the court in 2022 by the NGOs Greenpeace France, Les Amis de la Terre France, and Notre Affaire à Tous.

They immediately welcomed “a major legal precedent against climate misinformation by oil majors” in a statement.

The decision will be central to emerging case law on greenwashing—the practice of presenting oneself as more environmentally friendly than one actually is—not only in France but in Europe and beyond.

European courts and regulators have already singled out KLM in 2024 and Lufthansa in March for greenwashing, along with other companies in the food and other sectors.

But never before has an oil company been convicted by a court for its communication on its climate strategy around zero greenhouse gas emissions targets. And although the ruling is French, the conviction is likely to be referenced beyond France, explains Johnny White, a lawyer at ClientEarth.

– Removal of messages –

The case concerned the group’s communication campaign launched in May 2021 on its website, in the press, on social media, and on television.

At the time, Total had just renamed itself TotalEnergies to emphasize its ambition to be “the company of all energies,” from oil to wind and solar power.

The group then announced its goal of “carbon neutrality by 2050, together with society” and touted gas as “the fossil fuel with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions,” despite its controversial climate record due to methane leaks, which have a significant warming effect on the atmosphere.

In total, around 40 messages, some of which are still accessible online, were pinned.

The associations obtained the removal, under penalty of a fine, “within one month of the decision being served” of those concerning carbon neutrality and the energy transition, such as: “Our ambition is to be a major player in the energy transition while continuing to meet the energy needs of the population” or “Our ambition is to contribute to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 together with society.”

TotalEnergies and TotalEnergies Electricité et Gaz France will also have to publish the judgment on the home page of the website www.totalenergies.fr within the same time frame and for 180 days.

– Real investments –

On the other hand, the group, which has not yet responded to the ruling, defended its good faith and the reality of these “low-carbon” investments, in solar energy for example.

It argued that these messages were not advertisements aimed at consumers but were part of “institutional” and general communication, governed by the Monetary and Financial Code.
This case is “an exploitation of consumer law to criticize the company’s strategy,” the group said.

Humaniterre avec AFP