TotalEnergies SE

Does the core business genuinely avoid or reduce emissions, or build climate resilience? Share of revenue that is actually 'green'. Fossil-dependent models score low.

Fossil fuels accounted for over 97% of TotalEnergies' 2024 energy production, the company plans to grow oil and gas output by ~3% per year through 2030, and its own 'Momentum' scenario still projects global fossil fuel demand at 60% of primary energy in 2050 — the core business is net-additive to atmospheric carbon, not climate-positive.

Credible, science-based targets (SBTi), a real net-zero plan with progress to date, and CDP disclosure — not just a dated press release.

TotalEnergies has no SBTi-validated targets; its Scope 3 / lifecycle carbon intensity target is an intensity (not absolute) metric, its net-zero 2050 pledge relies on proprietary internal scenarios incompatible with a 1.5°C pathway per the Paris court ruling, and Reclaim Finance found its planned 2026-2030 CAPEX allocation to integrated power was actually reduced from 33% to 26.5%.

Operational footprint, labour and social practices, and governance quality across the company's own operations and supply chain.

EcoVadis Platinum ratings for subsidiaries and an MSCI 'A' ESG rating reflect above-average peer disclosures and labor/safety practices, but human rights complaints connected to the Mozambique LNG project (Palma attack victims filing suit in 2023) and ongoing US climate liability litigation constrain the overall ESG score materially.

Quality of disclosure, independent third-party verification, and how much hard data backs the company's claims.

TotalEnergies publishes extensive CDP, CSRD, and SEC 20-F disclosures and held an A- CDP score from 2017 until 2025, when it withdrew from CDP scoring after a new criterion excluded oil majors exploring new fields from 'leadership' status — a self-protective move that reduces independent verification credibility.

Controversies, litigation, pollution, fossil-fuel lobbying, conflict-zone involvement and governance scandals. Higher means cleaner.

In October 2025, the Paris Judicial Court issued the first-ever successful greenwashing judgment against a major oil company, finding TotalEnergies guilty of misleading commercial practices over its carbon-neutrality and 'energy transition leader' claims; additional controversies include US climate liability lawsuits, human rights complaints over the Mozambique LNG project, the EACOP Uganda pipeline displacing communities, and a South African advertising board greenwashing ruling in August 2024.