« I am writing to bring to your attention a report from Transparency International France targeting the company Total Energies SE, for a potential violation of the ethical obligation of sincerity incumbent on it in the context of its interest representation activities. » The letter, signed by Patrick Lefas, president of Transparency International France, and sent on May 7 to Jean Maïa, president of the High Authority for transparency in public life, is cordial in form, firm in substance.
Unveiled on May 29 by the NGO – the day of the General Assembly of TotalEnergies -, it calls into question an email sent on May 21, 2024 by Jean-Claude Mallet, then director of public affairs of TotalEnergies, to Christophe Leininger, then energy advisor to the Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. More precisely, two formulations of an attachment to the TotalEnergies email are called into question: that of having the “ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 ” and celle «Âto be a major player in the energy transition ”.
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Indeed, explains the NGO, the company headed by Patrick Pouyanné was already condemned in October 2025 for deceptive commercial practices – and did not appeal – due to these two formulations, published on its website. The statements, then considered misleading by a group of NGOs, which had recalled the significant weight of fossil fuels within the turnover of TotalEnergies and its investments, were therefore judged ““likely to mislead consumers about the scope of the Group’s environmental commitments”.
Here, Transparency International France therefore believes that the reuse of these formulas could have had the same effect: “ It seems to us that TotalEnergies was able to attempt on May 21, 2024 to obtain public decisions by deliberately communicating […] of erroneous information » in Matignon, estimates the courier. Contacted byThe WorldTotalEnergies defended itself, judging its communications “Transparent and precise“, and therefore fully compliant. For the group, the NGOs “ déforment » its ambition for the climate.
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During his General Meeting, the CEO of the oil giant recognized: « TotalEnergies is not in a position to formulate an objective « net zero » » by 2050. However, he considered that this did not reflect “ neither a setback, nor a decline » of its ambitions on low carbon, solar energy for example. A few days earlier, the NGOs Friends of the Earth France, ClientEarth and Notre Affaire à Tous had contacted the AMF, accusing – on the same basis as Transparency International France – the listed company of potentially misleading declarations.
