A Paris court has ruled that French energy giant TotalEnergies must include indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the use of its oil and gas products in its corporate vigilance plan, giving the company six months to comply.
The decision, handed down on June 25 by the Paris Judicial Court, is the latest development in a long-running climate lawsuit brought by several NGOs, including Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, France Nature Environnement and ZEA, together with the City of Paris.
The plaintiffs argued that TotalEnergies was failing in its duty of vigilance under the 2017 French law by not adequately addressing the full climate risks linked to its operations and products.
“For the first time, a judge has recognised that climate risks do indeed fall within large companies’ duty of vigilance, and that no fossil-fuel multinational can evade this responsibility”, said Alice Timsit, deputy mayor of Paris, in a statement.
While the court did not order the company to halt new oil and gas projects or drastically cut production, demands sought by the climate groups, it required TotalEnergies to properly assess and report on the environmental risks arising from the consumption of its fossil fuel products.
A follow-up hearing is scheduled for January 2027 to review the company’s updated plan.
Climate campaigners welcomed the ruling as an important step forward in holding major energy companies accountable, describing it as a breakthrough in French climate litigation.
However, several groups expressed disappointment that the court stopped short of imposing binding emission reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal.
TotalEnergies has not yet issued a detailed public reaction but is expected to comply with the court’s order while continuing to defend its multi-energy transition strategy.
The case is one of the most significant climate lawsuits in Europe, testing the scope of France’s duty of vigilance law, which requires large companies to identify and prevent serious human rights and environmental risks linked to their activities.
It forms part of a growing wave of legal actions across Europe aimed at forcing fossil fuel majors to align their business models with international climate commitments.
In the landmark “L’Affaire du Siècle” case, French NGOs successfully sued the French state in 2021, with the Paris Administrative Court ruling that government inaction on climate change had caused ecological damage and ordering concrete remedial measures.
In the Netherlands, environmental group Milieudefensie won a ground-breaking 2021 ruling against Shell, requiring the company to cut its global emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 — although the specific target was later overturned on appeal in 2024, the court upheld that major corporations have a legal duty of care to help mitigate dangerous climate change.
These cases, along with earlier greenwashing rulings against TotalEnergies itself in 2025, demonstrate that European courts are increasingly willing to scrutinise both state and corporate climate responsibilities.
The financial implications of such litigation are substantial for the companies involved. While direct court-ordered damages remain relatively limited so far, defending these complex, high-profile cases incurs significant legal costs running into millions of euros.
More importantly, adverse rulings can force expensive operational changes, damage corporate reputations, and increase pressure from investors and insurers.
Broader analyses suggest that the world’s largest fossil fuel companies could ultimately face trillions of dollars in attributed climate-related liabilities if courts continue to expand corporate accountability for emissions and failure to align with Paris Agreement goals.
Energy multinationals BP and TotalEnergies, major investors in Germany’s North Sea offshore wind sector, are seeking to slow the pace of future auctions and capacity build-out in a move that would delay the country’s 70 GW target by up to 16 years. https://t.co/L592vIqwdP
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 28, 2026
