Plaintiffs' reply to the statement of objections submitted by the defendant (unofficial English translation)

On January 28, 2020, French NGOs Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, Zéa, Les Eco Maires, and France Nature Environnement, together with several French local governments, filed a lawsuit against TotalEnergies before the Nanterre Judicial Court under France’s Duty of Vigilance Law. The claimants alleged that TotalEnergies’ vigilance plan failed to adequately identify and address climate-related risks arising from its activities, including greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of the oil and gas products it sells, known as Scope 3 emissions.

The case followed a formal notice sent to TotalEnergies on June 19, 2019, after exchanges between the parties failed to resolve the dispute. The claimants argued that TotalEnergies was required, under Article L.225-102-4 of the French Commercial Code, now Articles L.225-102-1 and L.225-102-2, to publish a vigilance plan identifying risks to human rights, health and safety, and the environment, and to adopt appropriate measures to prevent or mitigate those risks. They sought an order requiring TotalEnergies to publish a new vigilance plan that would identify the climate risks associated with its activities, including Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions; assess risks linked to warming beyond 1.5°C; account for the depletion of the global carbon budget and the continued development of oil and gas projects; and adopt measures aligned with the Paris Agreement and scientific pathways for limiting warming to 1.5°C.

The claimants also sought more specific remedial measures. They asked the court to order TotalEnergies to reduce oil and gas production or emissions in line with IPCC and International Energy Agency pathways, cease certain new hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation projects, explain and quantify the investments and financing needed to implement its mitigation targets, and pay a daily penalty in the event of non-compliance. In the alternative, they relied on provisions of the French Civil Code concerning the prevention of ecological damage.

TotalEnergies contested the claims. It argued, among other things, that climate change is a global and multifactorial phenomenon that falls outside the scope of the Duty of Vigilance Law; that climate-related information belongs instead in sustainability reporting; that Scope 3 emissions result from the activities of customers and other economic actors rather than from TotalEnergies’ own activities; and that the court could not prescribe specific corporate climate measures without interfering with the company’s management and broader public energy policy choices.

The proceedings initially focused on jurisdiction and admissibility. TotalEnergies sought to have the case heard by the commercial court, but the pre-trial judge rejected that objection on February 11, 2021, and the Versailles Court of Appeal confirmed the jurisdiction of the judicial court on November 18, 2021. Following legislative changes assigning duty of vigilance cases to the Paris Judicial Court, the case was transferred from Nanterre to Paris in February 2022. On July 21, 2022, the City of New York intervened in support of the claimants, citing its interest in climate mitigation and the harms and risks climate change poses to the city.

On July 6, 2023, the Paris Judicial Court’s pre-trial judge dismissed the case on procedural grounds. The judge found the claims inadmissible, including because of perceived discrepancies between the formal notice and the summons and because the claimants allegedly lacked standing to bring climate-related claims. The claimants appealed.

On June 18, 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal partially reversed the pre-trial dismissal and allowed the case to proceed. The Court of Appeal held that the formal notice did not need to reproduce all claims later raised in the summons, provided the claims had the same object. It also held that claims based on ecological damage were not inadmissible merely because they overlapped with the duty of vigilance claims, since the two legal bases pursue different purposes. On standing, the Court of Appeal recognized standing for Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, Zéa, and France Nature Environnement, and admitted the voluntary intervention of the City of Paris. It rejected standing for several other municipalities and organizations, including Les Eco Maires and the City of New York.

On June 25, 2026, the Paris Judicial Court issued its first merits decision. The court held that TotalEnergies’ vigilance plan was incomplete because it included Scope 1 and 2 emissions in its risk mapping but excluded Scope 3 emissions. The court found that Scope 3 emissions form part of the climate-related risks and impacts arising from the group’s activities and therefore must be addressed in the vigilance plan. The court ordered TotalEnergies to supplement its current vigilance plan within six months by including Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions in the risk mapping and in the related vigilance measures.

The court did not grant the broader remedies requested by the claimants. It declined to order TotalEnergies to adopt specific emissions reduction targets, align its business strategy with a particular 1.5°C pathway, or cease new hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation projects. The court reasoned that the Duty of Vigilance Law allows judges to require a company to comply with its vigilance obligations and correct an incomplete plan, but does not authorize the court to prescribe the specific content of the company’s climate strategy or the particular measures it must adopt.

The court dismissed the claims brought under Article L.225-102-2 of the Commercial Code, reserved judgment on the remaining claims pending submission of the revised vigilance plan, referred the case for further proceedings in January 2027, and declined to impose a penalty payment at this stage. It ordered TotalEnergies to pay €20,000 to each of the remaining claimants—Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, Zéa, France Nature Environnement, and the City of Paris—under Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Notre Affaire à Tous et al. v. TotalEnergies SE

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Notre Affaire à Tous et al. v. TotalEnergies SE - reply

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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

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

Financial support to help individuals manage the effects of unexpected events, securing their livelihoods and increasing the resilience of people and businesses to the changing climate. It’s especially vital in developing regions where everyday risks, climate-related weather extremes, or crop failures can push people into poverty. Without insurance, people may have to resort to selling assets or cutting consumption to cope with losses.

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

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.

An integrated system of hazard monitoring, forecasting and prediction, that enables individuals, communities, governments, businesses and others to take timely action to reduce disaster risks in advance of hazardous events.

Financial actors and resources that are primarily directed towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and compensation.

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.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

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

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.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

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.

Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

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.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for all, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity.

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

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.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

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

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

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.

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth—it includes sea ice, glaciers, snow, and ice sheets. It helps regulate the climate and weather by reflecting sunlight. Rising temperatures are causing melting, leading to sea ice loss, glacier collapse, and glacier landslides and avalanches. This threatens the livelihoods of around 700 million people who rely on the cryosphere for food, water security, and cultural practices.

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.

Notre Affaire à Tous et al. v. TotalEnergies SE - reply

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance