French court fines TotalEnergies for greenwashing for the first time

French energy company TotalEnergies misled consumers with an advertising campaign that violated the law on so-called greenwashing. The country’s civil court ruled today in the first judgment under this law. In a 2021 campaign, TotalEnergies showed mainly wind and solar power plants and claimed it would become carbon neutral by 2050. The court found this misleading.

The court ordered the company to pay 8000 euros (194.600 Kč) in compensation to each of the three plaintiff NGOs, plus a total of 15.000 euros (364.600 Kč) to cover their legal costs.

TotalEnergies must also remove from its website within a month all statements concerning carbon neutrality and the energy transition that the court deemed misleading. It must also publish a link to the court ruling on its website, or face a fine of up to 20.000 euros per day, Reuters reported.

"This historic ruling is the first case in the world in which a major oil and gas company has been held liable for misleading the public by greenwashing its image regarding its contribution to the fight against climate change," the French branch of Friends of the Earth said in response.

Greenwashing is the practice of companies falsely or misleadingly presenting their products as environmentally friendly without actually meeting sustainability standards. A law allowing such practices to be fined has been in force in France since 2021.

Vague or misleading statements such as "environmentally friendly" or "carbon neutral" are explicitly prohibited. Under the law, all marketing claims about sustainability and environmental impact must also be substantiated and scientifically verifiable.