TotalEnergies, a France-based multinational energy company, announced a shift in its sustainability strategy Thursday, with CEO and Chair Patrick Pouyanné saying in its latest sustainability report that the company's next-zero ambitions must be "reassessed" in light of the current pace of the global clean energy transition.
TotalEnergies previously had goals to reach net-zero emissions across its operational emissions — scope 1 and scope 2 emissions — by 2050 and reaching carbon neutrality in its scope 3 emissions by 2050, according to its website. The company’s latest sustainability report reaffirms the first portion of that strategy, but now says it will work “proactively with its customers to help execute their own energy transition strategies” and look to lower the carbon intensity of its products each year.
“Our societies and economies have initiated an energy transition, but the global economy is not yet achieving the pace of change required to meet the Paris Agreement objectives,” Pouyanné said in the report.
The energy company also said in the sustainability report released Thursday that it will not be able to adopt a transition plan or net-zero targets under European Union standards.
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and European Sustainability Reporting Standards created a legally binding framework, which requires companies with net-zero targets to create transition plans aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, TotalEnergies noted in its report. The company said in the report that it is making the changes, in part, due to growing scientific consensus that the world is likely to overshoot that goal, along with the current pace of the transition and low-carbon technology development.
“The transition has started. That's very good news, but not at the pace required to meet the Paris Agreement's goal,” TotalEnergies President for Strategy and Sustainability Aurélien Hamelle said during a Thursday presentation on the report. “[TotalEnergies] cannot adopt a net-zero transition plan according to the European regulations, because such a plan in the European regulations has to be aligned with 1.5 degrees, and scientists say 1.5 degrees is out of reach.”
TotalEnergies did not respond to a request for clarification on whether its scope 3 target remains in place before publication.
In addition to reaffirming its 2050 target to reach carbon neutrality across its operations, the energy company’s sustainability report also reaffirms its commitment to a trio of 2030 targets. The company retains goals to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to a 2015 baseline; reduce its operational methane emissions 80%,compared to a 2020 baseline; and reduce its the life cycle carbon intensity of its products 25% compared to a 2015 baseline by the end of the decade.
The company’s transition strategy is focused on reducing the emissions of its oil and gas business and developing an integrated electricity portfolio consisting of renewables and storage assets, the report said. While targeting emissions reductions, TotalEnergies is simultaneously looking to increase its energy production 4% each year between 2024-2030, according to report.
Pouyanné said in the report that the company exceeded its 2025 goal of reducing its methane emissions by 60%, compared to a 2020 baseline, and is now targeting a 70% reduction by the end of 2026, in service of reaching its 2030 methane reduction goal.
TotalEnergies’ sustainability report came the same week that the European company announced a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to “relinquish” two of its offshore wind leases in exchange for nearly $1 billion.
TotalEnergies said it will give up its leases for offshore wind developments off the coasts of North Carolina and New York, and will instead invest $928 million into U.S. liquefied natural gas development and power exports.
