TotalEnergies SE | Targets for indirect scope 3 emissions at TotalEnergies SE

Status
49.40% votes in favour
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Resolution details
Company ticker
FP
Lead filer
Resolution ask
Set targets or plans
ESG theme
  • Environment
ESG sub-theme
  • Net Zero / Paris aligned
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Energy
Company HQ country
France
Supporting materials
  • TotalEnergies Climate Resolution 2023.pdf Download
Resolved clause
By an advisory vote, shareholders support the Company, through the action of its Board of Directors, to align its existing 2030 reduction targets covering the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the use of its energy products (Scope 3) with the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement: to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. The strategy to achieve these targets is entirely up to the Board of Directors.
You have our support.
Supporting statement
Supporting Statement
Whereas the world has declared to drive down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions this decade, the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables presents great opportunities for an integrated energy multinational. We believe that TotalEnergies could lead and thrive in the energy transition by meeting the increasing demand for energy services while reducing GHG emissions to levels consistent with the global intergovernmental consensus specified by the Paris Climate Agreement.

Because the company’s existing 2030 targets covering Scope 3 are not Paris-aligned, we support the company to advance these targets. We, the shareholders, understand this support to be part of our fiduciary duty to secure the company’s long-term interest and to protect all our assets in the global economy from devastating climate change; limiting global warming is essential to risk management and responsible stewardship of the economy.

Backing from investors determined to achieve the goal of Paris gained momentum since 2020 when 17% voted in favour of the first climate targets resolution ever filed in France by a group of institutional investors. In 2022, similar resolutions put to a vote by Follow This obtained up to 39% of support at other oil majors.15 That same year at TotalEnergies, a board decision prevented a second binding resolution, worded identically to the first one, from being put to shareholders’ vote. Given the difficulties encountered by the shareholders in 2022 with the filing of the second resolution in advance of TotalEnergies’ annual general meeting of 2022, the investors have decided this year to file a consultative resolution, which therefore does not impose anything on the company or its board of directors. By this consultative resolution, the investors express the wish that the company make the commitments mentioned hereafter.

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Memo from 17 investors and Follow This: https://www.mn.nl/blog/189/large-consortium-of-investors-files-climate-resolution-at-totalenergies

How other organisations have declared their voting intentions

Organisation nameDeclared voting intentionsRationale
Rathbones Group PlcFor
MNFor
Meeschaert Asset Management (Delisted)For
LBPAM La Banque Postale Asset ManagementForA global integrated energy company like TotalEnergies can decrease emissions without ultimately shrinking business. It is in the company's best interest to pursue the opportunities the energy transition presents; this will also pre-empt risks of abrupt policy interventions, litigation, liability for the costs of climate change, disruptive innovation, and stranded assets. According to Carbon Tracker, two-thirds of fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground to stay within 1.5°C(14). Therefore, it’s in the best interest of investors to support TotalEnergies to align its 2030 scope 3 targets with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Advancing this target will allow TotalEnergies to invest accordingly to drive down emissions, thereby safeguarding the long-term future of the company and the global economy.
BANQUE HOTTINGUERForThrough an advisory vote, this resolution will provide to the board the support of shareholders to align its scope 3 GhG emissions 2030 reduction targets to the Paris agreement (containing the rise in global average temperature significantly below 2°C compared to pre industrial levels and to continue the action taken to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C)
Degroof Petercam Asset Management (DPAM)For
La Financiere de l'EchiquierFor
PGGM InvestmentsForAccording to a report by Accela Research (https://www.accelaresearch.com/our-work), which PGGM co-sponsored, TotalEnergies plans to increase its hydrocarbon production by 12% between 2022 and 2030. This is not in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, which requires a decrease in oil and gas production. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence that the company’s current strategy is aligned with a 1.5°C warming pathway. No independent, third-party source shows that TotalEnergies is Paris aligned in 2030.

TotalEnergies claims that its lifecycle carbon intensity targets are aligned with the IEA’s Announced Pledges Scenario alignment (Strategy, Sustainability, & Climate, p. 21). However, the company has not provided disclosure on its calculation method and the method is not replicable. Moreover, the APS scenario results in a temperature increase of 1.7°C by 2100, which is not aligned with the Paris Agreement’s ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

Overall, it is unclear to what extent TotalEnergies’ strategy will contribute to a global reduction in absolute emissions in line with 1.5°C.
VidaCaixaFor
Anima SgrForSetting Scope 3 emission targets would provide the company a clear roadmap on how to reduce its emissions across its full value chain. Adoption of the proposal would aid to strengthen the company's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and align its Scope 3 emission targets with Paris Agreement goals. It would also allow investors to better understand how the company is managing its transition to a low carbon economy as well as its climate change-related risks.
EFG Asset ManagementForA vote FOR this proposal is warranted, as its adoption would help to strengthen the company's efforts to reduce
its carbon footprint and align its Scope 3 emission targets with Paris Agreement goals and would allow investors
to better understand how the company is managing both its transition to a low carbon economy and its climate
change-related risks.
CoreCommodity Management, LLCFor
Rothschild & co Asset ManagementFor
KBI Global InvestorsFor
Dorval Asset ManagementAgainst

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