In the ongoing climate litigation brought by 6 organisations and 15 local authorities against TotalEnergies, the Paris Court of Appeal will hold a crucial hearing tomorrow along with the EDF/Mexico and Suez/Chile cases. While the Paris judicial court deemed the action inadmissible, the case will be examined by a new chamber, specially created within the Court of Appeal for issues related to France’s duty of vigilance law.
In January 2020, a coalition of associations and local authorities (1) took TotalEnergies to court. Joined in September 2022 by three additional local authorities and Amnesty International France, the coalition requests the Court to order the oil company to take the necessary measures to comply with the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement, in accordance with the law on duty of vigilance.
High-stakes hearing over France’s duty of vigilance law
On 6 July 2023, the pre-trial judge of the Paris Judicial Court ruled that the action was inadmissible in a decision based on a contested and worrying interpretation of the duty of vigilance law. Determined to force the French oil and gas major to meet its climate obligations, the coalition formed by NGOs and local authorities appealed the ruling.
The hearing will be held by the Paris Court of Appeal on the 5 March. Underlining the importance of the issues at stake, the case will be examined by a new chamber specially created to hear appeals against the Paris judicial court’s decisions relating to the duty of vigilance law and corporate environmental accountability. The court will also consider the Suez/Chile and EDF/Mexico cases, which were also declared inadmissible on controversial procedural grounds.
A coalition determined in the face of climate emergency
The Court of Appeal will rule on the admissibility of the judicial action, an essential step towards a decision on the merits of the case. This decision, highly awaited given the climate emergency, follows the landmark Dutch court ruling in the Shell case which highlighted the importance of judicial mechanisms in compelling multinationals to reduce their GHG emissions.
The Paris Judicial Court ruled that TotalEnergies had not been duly served with a formal notice, using a lack of dialogue as a pretext for declaring the legal action inadmissible. Yet, the duty of vigilance law does not impose any mandatory “discussion” or “conciliation” phase between companies and the affected organisations or individuals before taking legal action. Moreover, the pre-trial judge did not take into account the various exchanges between the coalition and the company’s directors prior to the formal notice.
The appeal also concerns the interest of local authorities in taking legal action, which were deemed inadmissible by the court. Local authorities are yet on the front line of climate change consequences and related challenges such as adaptation and mitigation.
Finally, the appeal questions the impartiality of this decision on inadmissibility, following the publication of information concerning possible family ties between the pre-trial judge and a senior TotalEnergies executive.
The coalition remains fully committed to make sure that the impact of TotalEnergies’ activities on climate change can be finally judged. The date of the court decision will be announced at the end of the hearing.
Press release from :
Sherpa, Notre Affaire à tous, Amnesty International France, France Nature Environnement, Les Eco Maires and cities of Arcueil, Vitry-le-François, Nanterre, Sevran, La Possession, Grenoble, and Poitiers.
For more information: presse@asso-sherpa.org
