Court orders TotalEnergies to account for clients’ emissions

PARIS: A French court ordered TotalEnergies on Thursday to account for its clients’ emissions, but the oil and gas giant escaped production cuts demanded by the plaintiffs in the major climate case.

The case is the latest in a growing wave of climate litigation targeting major corporate emitters worldwide.

The NGOs and TotalEnergies battled at the Paris Judicial Court over whether environmental risks fall within France’s corporate duty of vigilance law, which was enacted in 2017.

“Climate-related risks and impacts to which the company may contribute through its activities fall within the scope of the law on the duty of vigilance for parent companies and ordering companies,” the court said.

The city of Paris hailed the ruling as “a landmark decision in the history of French climate law”.