TotalEnergies SE has decided to appeal a June 25, 2026, judgment by the Paris Judicial Court in a high-profile case brought under France’s 2017 corporate duty of vigilance law. The Board of Directors approved the appeal following deliberation.

The original ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by environmental associations (including Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, Zéa, and France Nature Environnement) and the City of Paris. Plaintiffs argued that TotalEnergies’ vigilance plan failed to adequately address climate-related risks, particularly Scope 3 emissions from the end-use of its oil and gas products. They sought orders that would have restricted new oil and gas projects and imposed production cuts. 

On June 25, the court issued a partial victory for the claimants. It found the company’s vigilance plan incomplete for not including Scope 3 emissions (those generated when customers consume the company’s fuels) in its risk mapping and mitigation measures.

The court ordered TotalEnergies to update the plan within six months to incorporate these elements. However, judges rejected demands for binding production reductions, bans on new projects, or specific emissions targets, stating that the duty of vigilance law “is not intended to hold the companies concerned responsible for the risks related to climate change resulting from all human activity on the planet since the industrial revolution” and that “it is not for the Court to set the target to be achieved by TotalEnergies SE.” 

In its appeal announcement, TotalEnergies argued two main points.

First, aligning with the position of the Public Prosecutor’s Office during the proceedings, the company contended that climate change—as a global phenomenon—falls outside the scope of the duty of vigilance law. The Prosecutor’s Office had described it as “a matter for everyone, but essentially a responsibility of the international community of States.” 

Second, TotalEnergies maintained that the law is designed to address risks from a company’s own activities, those of its subsidiaries, and those of its suppliers and subcontractors—not the activities of its customers, over which the company has no control. “TotalEnergies does not decide whether a motorist chooses to drive a petrol-powered vehicle, use biodiesel, or drive an electric vehicle,” the company stated. 

Total Energies further noted that requiring energy, defense, aeronautics, or automotive firms to manage risks from product use by customers would conflict with the law’s objectives and principles of legal certainty and freedom to conduct business. The company also referenced that the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive does not include customer activities in its scope. 

The appeal does not automatically suspend the lower court’s order. TotalEnergies is still required to submit a revised vigilance plan, with a review hearing scheduled for January 2027. The company previously indicated it would comply by incorporating relevant information from its sustainability reporting, including efforts to help customers reduce emissions through biofuels, electricity, and lower-carbon products. 

The case, initially filed in 2020 and later deemed admissible on appeal in 2024, represents one of the first major applications of France’s duty of vigilance law to climate change issues. TotalEnergies will present its arguments before the Paris Court of Appeal.