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Source: AFP
French lipid and state elephantine TotalEnergies goes connected proceedings successful Paris connected Thursday implicit allegations of misleading clime claims, an unprecedented "greenwashing" lawsuit against a fossil substance steadfast successful France.
The civilian lawsuit stems from a March 2022 suit by 3 biology groups accusing the French energy elephantine of "misleading commercialized practices" for saying it could scope c neutrality portion continuing lipid and state production.
Starting successful May 2021, TotalEnergies advertised its extremity of "carbon neutrality by 2050" and touted state arsenic "the fossil substance with the lowest greenhouse state emissions".
At the time, the institution had besides changed its sanction from Total to TotalEnergies to emphasise its investments successful low-carbon energy, specified arsenic electricity.
The plaintiffs person logged astir 40 "false advertisements" successful their lawsuit.
The ads "don't sincerely bespeak the world of TotalEnergies' operations", Apolline Cagnat, a ineligible counsel astatine Greenpeace, told AFP.
Cagnat said the NGOs privation the tribunal to nonstop a "strong signal" to fossil substance companies by ordering "an contiguous stop, nether penalty, of the misleading commercialized practices".
TotalEnergies disputes the charges, insisting the messages are portion of its organization communication, regulated by fiscal authorities -- not user law.
It argues nary user organisation is enactment to the case, and that the NGOs are misusing user extortion rules to situation its firm strategy.
Environmental groups successful caller years person turned to the courts to found lawsuit instrumentality connected companies misleading consumers by appearing much eco-friendly than they are.
In Europe, courts ruled against Dutch hose KLM successful 2024 and Germany's Lufthansa successful March implicit misleading consumers astir their efforts to trim the biology interaction of flying.
In Spain, inferior Iberdrola failed to unafraid a condemnation against Spanish lipid and state institution Repsol implicit akin allegations of "false" biology claims.
A greenwashing lawsuit against Australian lipid and state shaper Santos, challenging its assertion to beryllium a "clean fuels" company, has been ongoing since 2021.
Based connected a European Union directive targeting unfair commercialized practices, the TotalEnergies suit is the archetypal clip a French tribunal has heard specified a lawsuit against a fossil substance company.
The NGOs said the Paris tribunal volition rule, for the archetypal clip successful the world, connected the legality of ads presenting state arsenic indispensable to the vigor transition.
Climate experts accidental methane leaks from the state industry person a almighty warming effect connected the atmosphere.
TotalEnergies maintains it has not engaged successful misleading commercialized practices.
The institution says it plans to amusement that its messages "about its sanction change, strategy and relation successful the vigor modulation are reliable and based connected objective, verifiable data".
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Source: AFP
