PARIS (Reuters) – TotalEnergies announced on Tuesday that it had revised upwards its target for reducing CO2 emissions linked to the use of its petroleum products as part of an updated strategy that the group will submit to an advisory vote of its shareholders at its next general meeting.

The oil and gas company, which is also very present in renewable energies, has however not changed its ambition in terms of reducing emissions linked to all the products used by its customers by 2030, which NGOs and certain investors consider insufficient.

TotalEnergies has clarified that it is now aiming for a reduction in its so-called “scope 3 oil” emissions of 40% in 2030 compared to 2015, with -30% from 2025, against -30% targeted in 2030 previously.

Concerning its operated facilities (scope 1+2), TotalEnergies is targeting less than 38 million tonnes of CO2 (Mt CO2e) in 2025 compared to 2015, compared to less than 40 Mt CO2e previously, thanks in particular to a program of one billion dollars in energy savings launched globally for 2023-2024.

At the same time, the group has raised its target of reducing the carbon intensity of the energy mix sold to its customers from -20% to -25% by 2030 compared to 2015, with a reduction of 15% from 2025. (against -10% previously).

TotalEnergies specified in a presentation that the emissions related to all the products used by its customers worldwide – known as “scope 3” – should be less than 400 Mt CO2 in 2025, against 410 Mt in 2015, the objective also remaining set at less than 400 Mt in 2030.

“Scope 3” represents approximately 91% of the group’s total emissions.

TotalEnergies has also decided to increase the share of its investments in low-carbon energies by $1 billion to bring them to $5 billion in 2023, out of a planned budget of between $16 and $18 billion.

30% INVESTMENT FOR OIL AND GAS PROJECTS

By 2030, the group plans to invest 14 to 18 billion dollars per year, of which a third in low-carbon energies and around 30% dedicated to the development of new oil and gas projects, the rest being devoted to maintenance. of its hydrocarbon portfolio.

Like its competitors, TotalEnergies is under increasing pressure from NGOs and certain investors who are asking it to make more specific and binding commitments in the fight against climate change, in particular by 2030.

Although environmental activists led by Greenpeace severely disrupted its general meeting in 2022, the group’s shareholders once again largely approved its objectives in terms of sustainable development and energy transition towards carbon neutrality last year.

The next general meeting of shareholders of TotalEnergies, during which they will vote again on the climate strategy and on a 10% increase in the remuneration of CEO Patrick Pouyanné after record profits in 2022, is convened on 26 may.

On Thursday, Britain’s Shell ruled out setting itself emission reduction targets related to the products used by its customers, arguing that this would go against the interests of its shareholders and would not contribute to mitigating global warming.

(Report Benjamin Mallet; edited by Blandine Hénault)

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