French riot police fire tear gas at climate protesters outside TotalEnergies shareholder meeting

French riot constabulary connected Friday fired teardrop state astatine hundreds of clime activists trying to forestall the yearly wide gathering of lipid elephantine TotalEnergies from taking place.

Clashes broke retired betwixt protesters and the constabulary soon earlier the commencement of the shareholder meeting, wherever investors are poised to ballot connected a solution calling connected the institution to align its clime targets with the landmark Paris Agreement and perpetrate to implicit c emanation cuts by 2030.

TotalEnergies has urged shareholders to ballot against the resolution, which was tabled by Follow This — a tiny Dutch activistic capitalist with stakes successful respective Big Oil companies.

Activists from run groups including 350.org, Friends of the Earth France and Scientists successful Rebellion had pledged to effort to halt the AGM from taking spot to denounce TotalEnergies' fossil substance expansion.

Protesters extracurricular the Salle Pleyel venue successful Paris could be heard chanting "all we privation is to sound down Total" and "one, two, 3 degrees, we person Total to thank," according to the AFP quality agency.

It comes amid a consciousness of palpable vexation among clime activists during the proxy voting season, with demonstrations besides taking spot astatine British lipid majors BP and Shell in caller weeks.

Shares of TotalEnergies traded somewhat higher connected Friday morning. The banal terms is down astir 6.3% year-to-date.