Climate protesters target TotalEnergies annual general meeting: Key details inside
The head of French energy giant TotalEnergies has highlighted before shareholders the need to develop more oilfields to meet global demand, as the annual meetings of the company and one of its biggest shareholders got disrupted by climate activists recently.
Police say they have detained 173 people among hundreds who assembled outside the Paris headquarters of Amundi, a major TotalEnergies shareholder and one of the biggest investment managers across the globe, reported the Guardian.
Climate protesters target TotalEnergies and key shareholder
Climate protesters also assembled hours before the TotalEnergies annual general meeting commenced. Police had to quickly remove a huge “Wanted” banner unfurled by Greenpeace members that called Patrick Pouyanné “the leader of France’s most polluting company.”
The energy giant’s chief executive told shareholders that higher oil prices triggered by insufficient fossil fuel output “would quickly become unbearable for the populations in emerging countries, but also in our developed countries.”
He noted the increase in global demand for oil due to the rising population. But the activists protesting recently say TotalEnergies is contributing to global warming and the destruction of biodiversity through its gas and oil activities.
TotalEnergies to use profits generated for energy transition
Besides the Greenpeace members, several hundred protesters belonging to the Extinction Rebellion group gathered outside Amundi for its general meeting. Several activists entered the tower block forcibly, smashing some windows and daubing graffiti on the walls, police said.
“We continue to produce and invest in oil and gas, to fight the natural decline of our fields and ensure the supply and energy security of our customers … The profits we generate are used to finance our energy transition to low-carbon energies,” TotalEnergies noted on X.
