On May 21, 2024, the NGOs BLOOM, Alliance Santé Planétaire, Nuestro Futuro, and eight individuals filed a criminal complaint in Paris Criminal Court against the board of directors and main shareholders of TotalEnergies. According to the plaintiffs' press release, the complaint alleges that the board of directors and main shareholders should be held criminally liable for their decisions that contributed to climate change, which they took despite knowing they would cause significant casualties and environmental damage. The alleged offences include deliberately endangering the lives of others, involuntary manslaughter, neglecting to address a disaster, and damaging biodiversity. According to the press release, the public prosecutor has discretion to decide whether to dismiss the case or open a judicial investigation.

On February 7, 2025, the French public prosecutor dismissed the complaint due to a lack of sufficiently established offenses.

Regarding the offense of endangerment, the prosecutor emphasized that criminal liability requires proof of a deliberate violation of a specific legal or regulatory safety obligation. BLOOM cited various legal texts, including Article 2 of the Paris Agreement (which aims to limit global temperature rise below 2°C), Article 4 of EU Regulation 2021/1119 (which establishes the framework for achieving climate neutrality), and Article L100-4 of the French Energy Code (which mandates a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050). However, the prosecutor determined that these provisions represent objectives rather than legally enforceable obligations under criminal law. Additionally, the Prosecutor stated that while greenhouse gas emissions are a recognized driver of climate change, such activities are not inherently unlawful. Establishing an environmental offense would require demonstrating a direct causal link between a wrongful act and specific environmental harm, a standard that, according to the prosecutor, was not met in this case.

Similarly, the prosecutor noted that the offense of willful failure to combat a disaster requires clear knowledge of an ongoing disaster, its precise identification, and an intentional decision not to intervene. The evidence presented did not establish that TotalEnergies deliberately failed to address the natural disasters referenced in the complaint, such as floods, wildfires, storms, and cyclones.

Lastly, regarding involuntary manslaughter, the prosecutor stated that the complexity and multiplicity of factors contributing to severe climate events make it impossible to prove a direct causal link between TotalEnergies' activities and any specific fatality resulting from a climate disaster.

BLOOM and Others v. TotalEnergies

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BLOOM and Others v. TotalEnergies - press release

Filed

France

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A financial institution that manages a country's currency and can promote climate-related initiatives through green monetary policy and other means.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Hot temperature extremes are daily maximum temperatures  that were exceeded on average once in a decade or once in 50 years, and includes heatwaves.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

People who have left their homes, whether through force, voluntarily, or a mixture of both

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Heavy precipitation refers to any form of weather where substances fall from the sky, including rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Geohazards are adverse geological phenomenon's that are capable of causing widespread damage or loss to property, life and the environment, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. Climate change can increase the frequency and severity of some geohazards, such as landslides, and soil erosion.

BLOOM and Others v. TotalEnergies - press release

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance