French court rejects NGOs' bid to compel TotalEnergies to curb emissions
PARIS, July 6 (Reuters) - A French court on Thursday declined to consider a case brought by a coalition of environmental groups and local authorities which was seeking to compel TotalEnergies to curb its greenhouse gas emissions to help fight climate change.
The coalition had launched legal action against the energy major in 2020, arguing that its stated commitments on emissions were insufficient to meet targets set by the legally binding Paris Agreement of 2015.
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The groups had also asked the court to impose a temporary pause on TotalEnergies' new oil and gas projects pending a full trial on the substantive issues they were raising.
The court declined to consider either the request for a temporary pause or the broader arguments, deeming them legally inadmissible.
The coalition included a range of non-governmental organisations as well as 15 French municipal authorities and the city of New York, court documents showed.
The court rejected their legal arguments, which cited a French law on the "duty of vigilance" towards violations of rights as the basis for their court action.
The coalition said the ruling was concerning.
"Based on questionable procedural issues, an examination of the substantive issues has once again been delayed, even as TotalEnergies is still not taking the necessary steps to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions," it said.
TotalEnergies said in a statement it took note of the court decision and said it had "an ambitions strategy to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with society".
Legal actions against oil majors have become one of the battlegrounds in climate change activism in recent years.
In a landmark ruling in 2021, a Dutch court ordered Shell to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels. Shell has appealed against the ruling. (Reporting by Benjamin Mallet, writing by Estelle Shirbon, editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Mark Potter, Alexandra Hudson)