The legal action, filed at the Paris judicial court, argues that TotalEnergies’ 'reinvention’ ad campaign breaks European consumer law as it falsely portrays the company as on track to address the climate crisis.

Clara Gonzales, legal counsel at Greenpeace France, said: “We are taking TotalEnergies to court today because it is using sly propaganda to try to convince us of the impossible: that carbon neutrality can be reached while producing and selling ever more fossil fuels when, in reality, our dependence on fossil fuels is driving up bills, wrecking our climate and funding war”.

At the heart of TotalEnergies’ huge marketing push are claims that the company is committed to being “a major player in the energy transition” as part of it achieving ‘carbon neutrality’ (net zero) by 2050, which it announced ahead of its recent rebrand to TotalEnergies.

The greenwashing legal challenge comes amid growing international doubt of the legitimacy of corporate net zero pledges, particularly from big oil and gas companies.

...When asked about the campaign, TotalEnergies’ CEO denied it was greenwashing.

According to the lawsuit, TotalEnergies’ ‘ambition’ to become carbon neutral is liable to be taken at face value by consumers, and therefore violate bans on misleading practices under consumer protection law, the European Unfair Consumer Practices Directive, as implemented in France.

Meanwhile, TotalEnergies’ agrofuels advertising fails to provide the public with essential information on significant parts of its environmental footprint. The organisations say these omissions are a clear violation of the recommendations on environmental advertising claims.

The environmental organisations are calling for an EU-wide ban on fossil fuel advertising to finally put an end to TotalEnergies and the fossil fuel industry spreading misleading climate messages.