TotalEnergies Appeals Landmark French Ruling Tying It To Customer Emissions

French energy major TotalEnergies confirmed Monday it will appeal a Paris court ruling that ordered the company to account for climate risks linked to emissions produced when customers use its oil and gas products. The company's board of directors approved the appeal following the June 25, 2026 judgment.

The Paris Judicial Court had found that TotalEnergies' existing vigilance plan was incomplete without Scope 3 emissions, the indirect emissions generated when customers burn its fuel products, and ordered the company to update the plan within six months to address those risks.

The ruling marked the first time a French court applied the country's 2017 duty of vigilance law, which requires large companies to identify and address risks to human rights, health and the environment, to climate-related harm tied to how customers use a company's products rather than its own direct operations.

TotalEnergies said in a statement that it considers climate change a global phenomenon falling outside the scope of the vigilance law, a position it noted aligns with the stance taken by the Paris public prosecutor's office during the proceedings. The company argued that requiring energy, defense, aeronautics or automotive firms to control risks from how customers use their products is inconsistent with the law's objectives and with principles of legal certainty and freedom to conduct business.

The company pointed out that the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive does not extend to customer activities, and said it will present these arguments before the Paris Court of Appeal.

The case, filed by environmental associations and the City of Paris and first opened in 2020, produced a partial win for TotalEnergies as well. The court declined to order specific emissions reduction targets, production cuts or a halt to new fossil fuel exploration, relief the claimant groups had originally sought.

Deputy Mayor Alice Timsit of Paris had called the original judgment a landmark decision in French climate law, saying it marked the first time a judge recognized that climate risks fall under the duty of vigilance owed by large corporations. TotalEnergies had responded that reducing emissions also depends on consumer choices, such as purchasing electric vehicles, heat pumps or biofuels.

Climate litigation against major energy companies has produced mixed outcomes internationally. A Dutch appeals court overturned a landmark 2021 ruling that had ordered Shell to deepen its emissions cuts, a decision now under review by the Netherlands Supreme Court.

TotalEnergies operates in roughly 120 countries with more than 100,000 employees, producing oil, biofuels, natural gas, biogas, low-carbon hydrogen, renewables and electricity. The Paris Court of Appeal has not yet set a timeline for reviewing the case.