Press release

Historic win against greenwashing as Court rules TotalEnergies misled consumers on net zero

23 October 2025

  • Win for NGOs in Court against oil & gas major TotalEnergies.

  • Court finds the company has misled consumers by presenting itself as a “major player in the energy transition”.

  • It is the first judgment in the world ruling an oil & gas major has misled the public by greening its image.

A Paris Court has found TotalEnergies’ advertising illegal [1], in a case brought by Les Amis de la Terre France, Greenpeace France, and Notre Affaire à Tous, with the support of ClientEarth.

The Court ruled that the company has misled consumers in its advertising [2], by giving the impression that it is part of the solution to climate change despite continuing to promote and sell more fossil fuels. 

Specifically, TotalEnergies claimed that it put “climate at the heart of its strategy, with the aim of providing cleaner, safer and more affordable energy to as many people as possible” and that it had set the ambition to achieve net zero by 2050.

However, the French oil and gas giant has mapped out plans for fossil fuel expansion, with new oil and gas projects in Iraq, Denmark, Tanzania and Uganda – which NGOs argued flies in the face of the energy transition, and the company’s own policies and marketing. [3] 

This is the first greenwashing judgment ever issued against the oil industry’s net zero narrative. [4]

The Court ordered that within one month, TotalEnergies and TotalEnergies Electricité et Gaz France must cease the unlawful advertising and must display the judgment prominently on the www.totalenergies.fr website for a period of 180 days. A failure to do so is subject to a fine of EUR 10,000 per day of delay. 

On the other advertising claims, including those promoting fossil gas and biofuels, the Court found that these advertisements fell outside consumer law, stating that they were not sufficiently connected to the sale of products to consumers. The Court therefore did not examine whether these claims were misleading or not – it simply decided they were not in the scope of consumer law.

The ruling is expected to have a knock-on effect on Big Oil’s marketing across other jurisdictions, both for TotalEnergies’ campaigns across Europe and for similar marketing claims by other oil and gas majors.

Reacting to the ruling, ClientEarth lawyer Jonathan White said:

“In recent years, TotalEnergies appears to be continuing undeterred with new oil and gas projects while under its own ‘energy transition’ banner – despite stark warnings from both climate experts and extreme weather headlines on what fossil fuel expansion means for current and future generations.

“In our view, these claims amount to false marketing with an unfathomable price tag: our very future on this planet.

“And now, this landmark judgment has sent a clear warning shot to other oil and gas majors in Europe and beyond: claiming to be part of the transition while backing new fossil fuel projects comes at a tried-and-tested legal price.”

ENDS 

Notes to editors:

[1] A copy of the ruling can be found here.

[2] TotalEnergies’ advertising claims in this case include:
 
(English translation: "Faced with the challenge of climate change, TotalEnergies has placed climate at the heart of its strategy, with the aim of providing cleaner, safer, and more affordable energy to as many people as possible.

“The Group has set itself the ambition of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, in tandem with society, notably through the development of renewable energies. At the end of 2020, TotalEnergies' gross electricity production capacity was approximately 12GW, including 7GW of renewable energy. TotalEnergies intends to continue developing these activities to reach a gross production capacity from renewable sources of 100GW by 2030.") 

[3] Fossil fuels still account for the overwhelming majority of TotalEnergies’ business and investments – and it plans to explore new oil and gas opportunities in Iraq, Denmark, Uganda and Tanzania.

[4] Since this case was filed in May 2022, other legal actions against oil major greenwashing have emerged. TotalEnergies lost a case in Germany, over advertising CO2-compensated home heating oil. Clean energy company Iberdrola took Spanish oil & gas company Repsol to Court in Spain for greenwashing, but the Court rejected the case. Oil & gas companies have also received multiple decisions recommending withdrawal of adverts from advertising self-regulatory bodies in Europe and beyond.  However, to our knowledge, this new decision is the first time a Court has ruled that the oil & gas ‘net zero by 2050’ and energy transition narrative is unlawful greenwashing.

About ClientEarth

ClientEarth is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to create systemic change that protects the Earth for – and with – its inhabitants. We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. ClientEarth teams in Europe, Asia and the USA work to shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive together.