Protesters outside the Salle Pleyel in Paris could be heard chanting “all we want is to bring down Total” and “one, two, three degrees, we have Total to thank”.
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French riot police on Friday fired tear gas at hundreds of climate activists trying to prevent the oil giant’s annual general meeting TotalEnergies to take place.
Clashes erupted between protesters and police shortly before the start of the shareholders’ meeting, where investors are set to vote on a resolution calling on the company to align its climate goals with the benchmark Paris Agreement and commit to absolute carbon emissions reductions by 2030.
TotalEnergies has urged shareholders to vote against the resolution, which was filed by Follow This – a small Dutch activist investor with stakes in several major oil companies.
Activists from campaign groups including 350.org, Friends of the Earth France and Scientists in Rebellion had promised to try to prevent the holding of the GA to denounce the expansion of fossil fuels by TotalEnergies.
Protesters outside the Salle Pleyel in Paris could be heard chanting “all we want is to bring down Total” and “one, two, three degrees, we have Total to thank”, according to the AFP news agency.
It comes amid palpable frustration among climate activists during proxy voting season, with demonstrations also takes place at the British oil majors PB And Shell these last weeks.
Shares of TotalEnergies were trading slightly higher on Friday morning. The stock price is down about 6.3% since the start of the year.