Badvert of the Month: TotalEnergies and the Highway to Climate Hell
Our latest Badvert investigation reveals that despite the misleading title of TotalEnergies advert, the French oil giant is in fact on a highway to climate hell. In yet another instalment of its continuing greenwash campaign, “The Roads to Carbon Neutral”, spotlights a renewable energy project that TotalEnergies has invested in.
Casa dos Ventos is a wind farm in Brazil capable of generating 1 GW of clean energy - a green veil and distraction behind which a much more oily, corporate reality lurks.
After watching the ad, accompanied with the hashtag #NetZeroBy2050, it would be easy to get the impression that TotalEnergies is a leader in the energy transition. But appearances can be deceptive and often are where the fossil fuel industry is concerned. In recent research by Reclaim Finance, it was revealed that 94.7% of TotalEnergies’ energy mix has nothing to do with clean energy and is, in fact, composed of oil and gas extraction and production. The company’s choice of hashtag rings additionally hollow given that it has also abandoned key promises to do better, announcing a rowback on its 2030 emissions reduction target, from a 35-40% reduction to a 20-30% cut.
Worse still, TotalEnergies is actually doubling down on fossil fuels, in a polluted hole and still digging. According to a recent statement for shareholders, the company plans to increase its fossil fuel production by 2-3% annually until 2030. So, how does TotalEnergies back up its “commitment” to net zero and emissions reduction targets?
You might reasonably assume this would require actual fossil fuel phaseouts? Of course not - with the help of creative carbon accounting in the form of yet-to-be-invented carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and laundering emissions through carbon offsetting trickery, the fossil fuel industry thinks it can have its net zero cake and eat it. Emissions accounting magic allows TotalEnergies to wreak even more havoc on the climate, all while projecting the image of being a net zero pioneer on paper.
In the ad, TotalEnergies draws attention to the role its wind farm has played in boosting the local economy and the pride it brings to the local community. But as with all greenwashing, the truth lies in what is left unsaid and, in this instance, the voices left unheard. Communities across the globe have long felt the negative impacts caused by the primary business of TotalEnergies: fossil fuel production. This hidden aspect of its operations—spanning oil rigs, gas pipelines, and decades of pollution—leaves a human and planetary scar far deeper than its few wind turbines can heal.
In Myanmar, the company bankrolled a military junta accused of human rights atrocities through its Yadana gas project for decades, only withdrawing after prolonged public pressure. In East Africa, its EACOP pipeline has displaced over 118,000 people, seen activists jailed, and threatens pollution of water sources for millions. To distract from this ecological and humanitarian devastation, TotalEnergies has sponsored the Africa Cup of Nations to the tune of $1.125 billion. But, partnering with football in regions ravaged by its operations isn’t solidarity - it’s reputation laundering.
These recent atrocities mark just another chapter in a dark, hundred-year history that includes contaminating a freshwater source in Yemen and displacing Mapuche indigenous populations in Argentina. Throughout the company’s history, TotalEnergies’ operations have destroyed the livelihoods and homes of multiple communities. Spotlighting the economic opportunities of the Casa dos Ventos project is not only an attempt to rewrite TotalEnergies’ polluting past, but a distraction from its commitment to future pollution.
Recent research shows that TotalEnergies has systematically sought to distort the impact of its business operations for over 50 years. Like Exxonmobil, TotalEnergies knew that fossil fuels caused climate breakdown as early as the 1970s. But, instead of changing direction when they realised the harm that their business would go on to cause, the company instead chose to fund climate denial campaigns, lobby against regulations, and today invokes false technological solutions and financial instruments to carry on with polluting business-as-usual.
Company background:
TotalEnergies, previously trading as Total, is a French multinational energy and petroleum company founded in 1924. Its business operations cover the entire oil and gas chain as well as chemical manufacturing. The company was founded after WWI, as an entirely French company. TotalEnergies’ annual emissions in 2024 were 376 million tonnes of CO2e (376 MtCO2e), well exceeding the annual emissions of France, where its company headquarters are based.