Notre Affaire à Tous and Sherpa ask the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) to verify the accuracy of Total's financial information regarding climate risks
Notre Affaire à Tous and Sherpa have reported to the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) potential contradictions, inaccuracies and omissions in Total's financial documents and recent public communications regarding climate risks. The organisations consider that the company bases its financial communication on uncertain assumptions that do not sufficiently reflect the financial risks related to the dependence of its business model on hydrocarbons, nor the risks of a possible asset impairment. The regulator is empowered to verify the truthfulness of the financial information disclosed by Total with respect to climate risks...
The Carbon Tracker Initiative (CTI) estimates that 20 to 70% of Total's investments are inconsistent with scenarios that limit the temperature below 2°C. This financial risk is now a concern for some of Total's shareholders. A group of eleven investors who filed a shareholder resolution on April 15 on climate change said they were "concerned about the risk of depreciation of Total's stranded assets, whose value and business model depend heavily on the fossil fuel reserves it manages"...
For Notre Affaire à Tous: "The collapse of the oil price linked to covid-19 brings to light the toxicity of dependence on hydrocarbons and pushes the company to the brink of the abyss. A significant shortfall is to be noted in the short term, and due to the accelerating decarbonisation of the transport sector, it is likely that the price of oil will never return to previous levels...
For Sherpa, "Total's business model is clearly exposed to current and future climate change policies. The company must now be transparent about the reality of its strategy and the risks it represents for its investors.