TotalEnergies must count its emissions, but without haste

A French court has ordered TotalEnergies to report on the indirect emissions generated by customers' use of its products. However, it refused to impose the corrective measures requested by the plaintiffs. For citizens, this represents progress in environmental transparency that could influence consumption and future energy policies.

industrial complex at twilight, a massive oil refinery with pipelines and storage tanks, a transparent holographic globe floating above the facility displaying streaming emission data and consumption arrows, engineers in hard hats pointing at the hologram while holding tablets showing graphs, a gavel resting on a legal document in the foreground, soft blue and orange lighting, cinematic photorealistic technical illustration, detailed metallic textures, glowing data lines, dramatic shadows, high-contrast industrial atmosphere

Forced transparency: the technical challenge of measuring others' carbon 🔍

Measuring indirect emissions, known as Scope 3, involves tracking the end use of fossil fuels in millions of homes and vehicles. TotalEnergies will need to implement estimation systems based on consumption patterns and standardized emission factors. This task requires robust statistical models and up-to-date data, a technical challenge that many oil companies have avoided until now due to its complexity and cost.

TotalEnergies: now with a climate calorie label 🏭

The ruling is reminiscent of being forced to read the ingredients on a frozen pizza, but without being able to change the recipe. The oil company will have to detail how much CO2 its customers generate, as if putting a sign at every pump saying: with this liter, you pollute as much as a three-hour barbecue. However, for now, no one is demanding it stop selling fuel.