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French Court Orders TotalEnergies to Report Product Emissions
25 Jun
Summary
- Court orders TotalEnergies to account for emissions from client product use.
- Company's existing vigilance plan was deemed incomplete by the court.
- TotalEnergies must amend its plan within six months to include Scope 3 emissions.
On Thursday, June 25, 2026, a French court mandated that oil and gas company TotalEnergies must report on the emissions resulting from the use of its products by customers. This landmark decision came from the Paris Judicial Court in a climate change lawsuit brought forward by non-governmental organizations and the city of Paris.
The court determined that the company's existing "duty of vigilance" plan was insufficient. TotalEnergies has been given a six-month deadline to amend this plan. The revision must incorporate what are known as Scope 3 emissions, which represent indirect emissions from end-users of the company's fossil fuel products.
While the court ordered this accounting, it did not impose all the punitive measures sought by the plaintiffs. These included demands for TotalEnergies to cease new fossil fuel projects and significantly reduce its oil and gas production by 2030. The NGOs had argued these indirect emissions totaled 342 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2024.
The legal battle centered on whether France's 2017 duty of vigilance law extended to global warming impacts. TotalEnergies' defense had argued the law only covered its direct operations and those of its contractors, not customer behavior. However, the court concluded that Scope 3 emissions are inherently linked to the company's activities.
