By Zoey
A Paris court has delivered a landmark decision requiring French energy giant TotalEnergies to include greenhouse gas emissions generated by the use of its oil and gas products in its assessment of environmental risks, marking a significant development in corporate climate accountability.
Under the ruling issued on Thursday, the company has been given six months to revise its climate risk assessment to reflect emissions produced by consumers when they use its fossil fuel products. The updated report will be reviewed during a new court hearing scheduled for January.
The judgment comes as France experiences one of its most intense heat waves in recent years, adding further attention to the growing debate over corporate responsibility for climate change.
Although the ruling represents an important legal victory for environmental campaigners, the court stopped short of ordering TotalEnergies to reduce its oil and gas production or halt the development of new fossil fuel projects, measures that had been sought by the organizations behind the lawsuit.
The case centers on France’s 2017 corporate duty of vigilance law, legislation that requires large companies to identify, prevent and address serious human rights violations and environmental risks linked to their business activities.
Thursday’s decision marks the first time the law has been applied directly to issues related to climate change, potentially opening a new legal pathway for holding multinational corporations accountable for their contribution to global warming.
In its written decision, the court clarified that the law does not make individual companies solely responsible for climate change, noting that global warming is the result of cumulative human activity dating back to the Industrial Revolution.
Instead, judges stated that each company must evaluate and manage climate-related risks according to its own operations, products and specific circumstances.
The court concluded that emissions produced by customers using TotalEnergies’ oil and gas products represent an environmental risk that must be considered under the company’s vigilance obligations. As a result, the energy company must update its climate strategy and provide a more comprehensive assessment of those impacts.
TotalEnergies welcomed parts of the ruling, expressing satisfaction that the court declined to impose restrictions on its future oil and gas developments or require mandatory reductions in fossil fuel production.
In a statement issued after the decision, the company said it would comply with the court’s order by updating its climate policies and vigilance plan. TotalEnergies also highlighted its ongoing investments in electricity and renewable energy while emphasizing that it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations by approximately 28 percent since 2015.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2020 by several environmental organizations, including Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, ZEA and France Nature Environnement, alongside the City of Paris.
The coalition argued that TotalEnergies, as one of the world’s largest historical producers of fossil fuels, has a responsibility to significantly reduce its contribution to climate change.
The organizations had asked the court to order the company to reduce oil production by 37 percent and natural gas production by 25 percent before 2030. They also sought a legal ban on new fossil fuel exploration and development projects. While the court declined to grant those demands, campaigners described the decision as a major breakthrough.
In a joint statement, the organizations said the judgment confirms that France’s corporate duty of vigilance law fully applies to climate-related risks generated by multinational corporations.
They argued that the decision strengthens the legal framework for ensuring companies properly assess and address the environmental consequences of their activities.
Legal experts also believe the ruling could have implications beyond France.
Sébastien Duyck, a senior attorney with the Center for International Environmental Law, said the decision may establish an influential precedent for future climate litigation across Europe.
He noted that France’s duty of vigilance legislation has already served as a model for similar laws introduced in other countries and has influenced regulatory initiatives at the European Union level.
The ruling arrives as much of Europe struggles through an intense heat wave that has pushed temperatures to dangerous levels across several countries. France, Spain and the United Kingdom have all issued high-level weather warnings as authorities respond to soaring temperatures and increased health risks.
Extreme heat has disrupted daily life across the continent, forcing major tourist attractions, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum, to adjust opening hours while schools, transportation systems and public services have also faced widespread disruption.
Scientists continue to warn that human-driven climate change is increasing both the frequency and severity of extreme weather events worldwide. According to projections from the United Nations’ climate agency, the coming years are expected to bring additional record-breaking temperatures as global warming continues.
Europe remains the fastest-warming continent, with average temperatures rising at roughly twice the global rate since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Health officials have also warned about the growing human cost of rising temperatures. The World Health Organization’s regional office for Europe recently reported that more than 200,000 people have died from heat-related causes across the continent over the past four years, with many of those deaths considered preventable through stronger public health measures and climate adaptation efforts.
The decision against TotalEnergies is the latest in a growing number of climate-related legal rulings worldwide. Courts are increasingly being asked to determine the responsibilities of governments and corporations in addressing global warming and protecting citizens from its consequences.
Last year, the International Court of Justice stated that countries could violate international law if they fail to take sufficient action to address climate change. In 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that governments have a legal obligation to better protect people from the impacts of climate change.
Earlier, in 2019, the Netherlands’ Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment recognizing protection from the harmful effects of climate change as a human right and affirming that governments have a legal duty to safeguard their populations from climate-related threats.
Thursday’s ruling in Paris adds another significant chapter to the evolving legal landscape surrounding climate responsibility and signals that courts may increasingly require major corporations to account for the broader environmental consequences of the products they bring to market.
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