‘Life is like it is’: TotalEnergies CEO defends strategy despite calls to cut fossil fuel production

The main enforcement of TotalEnergies defended the firm's greenhouse state emissions strategy, saying the institution remains committed to lipid and state contempt repeated warnings that expanding fossil substance accumulation volition lone marque matters worse.

Speaking to CNBC's Dan Murphy successful Vienna, Austria connected the sidelines of an OPEC conference, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said Wednesday that the institution had allocated astir one-third of its superior expenditure to low-carbon technologies, with the remainder spent connected lipid and gas.

"We are successful some pillars, and we volition stay connected some pillars [for a agelong time]," Pouyanne said.

"Today, our nine requires lipid and state … Why we are together, it is 80% of fossil fuels. There is nary mode to deliberation that overnight we tin conscionable destruct each that and trust lone connected 10% of low-carbon energy. It volition instrumentality decades to physique a caller system," helium added.

"So, we indispensable bash 2 things: To proceed to nutrient the lipid and gas, [while] of people being precise strict connected the emissions. The question is not fossil fuels, it is emissions, to little the emissions."

His comments travel conscionable implicit 1 period aft French riot constabulary fired teardrop gas astatine hundreds of clime activists trying to forestall the firm's yearly wide meeting. Activist groups had pledged to effort to halt the shareholder gathering from taking spot to denounce the group's fossil substance enlargement plans.

The burning of fossil fuels, specified arsenic lipid and gas, is the main operator of the clime emergency. The world's starring clime scientists, collated by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel connected Climate Change, person said tackling the situation requires "immediate and heavy emissions reductions crossed each sectors."

The IPCC's message, which was approved by governments crossed the globe, underscored the request for a important simplification successful fossil substance usage to curb planetary heating, present astatine 1.1 degrees Celsius supra pre-industrial levels.

U.N. main Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, has warned that investing successful caller fossil substance infrastructure is "moral and economical madness" and specified investments volition travel to beryllium seen arsenic "a blot connected the scenery and a blight connected concern portfolios."

TotalEnergies' Pouyanne acknowledged disapproval from clime campaigners that the institution has not moved rapidly capable to accelerate the vigor transition, but said the "huge challenge" was to reconcile the information of proviso with affordability and sustainability.

"If we don't put enough, the [oil] terms volition not beryllium $75 per barrel, it volition beryllium $150 oregon $200 and each consumers volition beryllium ace unhappy and our beingness volition beryllium a nightmare," Pouyanne said.

"So … producing with strict caller standards demonstrating that we tin nutrient lipid and state successful a precise astute mode with little emissions. At the same, we put successful the caller low-carbon energy, and we bash it successful a ample way."

He described the spike successful energy prices successful 2022 arsenic a "catastrophe" pursuing Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine.

"So, let's support this balanced. It's difficult. I cognize the scientists told america you should hide [fossil fuels] — but beingness is similar it is. We indispensable marque that modulation astatine the gait which tin beryllium accepted by the society. That's besides 1 information of the success."

The protestation astatine TotalEnergies' AGM connected May 26 came astatine a clip of palpable vexation among clime activists during the proxy voting season, with demonstrations besides taking spot astatine British lipid majors BP and Shell aft an bonzer tally of grounds profits crossed the industry.

Investors astatine TotalEnergies' shareholder gathering ultimately rejected an activistic solution calling connected the institution to align its clime targets with the landmark Paris Agreement and perpetrate to implicit c emanation cuts by 2030.

The resolution, filed by Dutch actvist shareholder radical Follow This and 17 organization investors with 1.1 trillion euros ($1.2 trillion) nether management, received 30% of the vote, up from 17% the past clip a akin ballot was held successful 2020.

Asked however the institution tin question to person skeptical observers pursuing a shareholder rebellion implicit TotalEnergies' greenhouse state emissions strategy, Pouyanne replied: "I didn't spot a shareholder revolt. No, I saw an NGO revolt, which is not the same."

"We person to respect the ideas of everybody," Pouyanne said. "The constituent is that we person a strategy which is exposed to our shareholders — by the way, if I americium listening to astir of my shareholders, I deliberation I would bash much lipid and state and possibly little green. So, we effort to find the close balance. Maybe we don't fulfill everybody."

TotalEnergies, which aims to go a nett zero institution by 2050, has pledged to trim emissions from each of its products by 40% successful 2030.

Pouyanne called connected the world's lipid and state companies to acceptable targets to trim emissions from methane, a potent greenhouse gas, astatine the COP28 clime acme — which volition beryllium held successful the United Arab Emirates aboriginal successful the year.

He besides urged the lipid and state manufacture to follow targets to chopped greenhouse state emissions from their ain operations, known arsenic Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, by 2030 astatine the U.N. summit. The immense bulk of emissions, however, are generated by customers' usage of an lipid major's lipid and gas, known arsenic Scope 3 emissions.