Paris court orders TotalEnergies to add customer emissions to due-diligence plan

A Paris court has ordered TotalEnergies to include emissions from customers using its oil and gas products in its due-diligence plan, giving the company six months to update the document and report back on climate risks tied to those emissions.

The ruling is being described as the first time France’s duty-of-vigilance law has been applied to climate change. It could also widen the legal debate over how far large fossil-fuel producers must go in accounting for emissions created when their products are burned.

The case was brought by environmental groups and the City of Paris under France’s 2017 corporate duty-of-vigilance law, which requires large companies to identify and prevent human-rights, health and environmental harms linked to their operations and supply chains.

What the court ordered

The court said TotalEnergies must revise its climate-related due-diligence plan so it reflects emissions linked to the use of its oil and gas products by customers. It gave the company six months to comply.

The order focuses on the company’s plan and disclosure obligations rather than immediate operational cuts. The court did not grant the plaintiffs’ broader requests to force immediate reductions in oil and gas production or to block new fossil-fuel projects.

A further hearing is scheduled for January 2027, when the court is expected to review the updated plan.

How the case developed

The lawsuit has been part of a longer French debate over how far the duty-of-vigilance law can reach in climate cases. The law, adopted in 2017, was designed to make large companies map and address serious harms tied to their business activities and supply chains.

Hearings in Paris took place on Feb. 19, 2026, before the court issued its ruling on June 25, 2026. AP first reported the decision early on June 25, and later coverage from Le Monde and the Financial Times confirmed the same order and added detail about the deadline and the follow-up hearing.

The plaintiffs include Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa and France Nature Environnement, along with the City of Paris. They had sought a much broader ruling that would push TotalEnergies to address the climate impact of its business model more aggressively.

Why it matters

The ruling may expand the practical reach of France’s duty-of-vigilance law to so-called downstream emissions, or Scope 3 emissions, created when fossil fuels are burned by end users. That has implications not only for TotalEnergies, but also for other climate cases in France and potentially for broader European corporate accountability debates.

It also raises compliance and disclosure questions for major fossil-fuel producers, especially around how they describe and manage climate-related risks that arise after their products are sold.

TotalEnergies had argued that climate change is a global issue beyond the scope of the law and that it does not control how customers use its products. The court rejected that broad reading, saying the law is not meant to make companies responsible for climate risks arising from all human activity since the Industrial Revolution, but to require action based on the company’s own situation.

What happens next

TotalEnergies now has six months to revise its due-diligence plan. The company’s response, any appeal, and the court’s January 2027 review will help show how far the ruling will reach in practice.

The case is being watched closely by climate litigators, companies and regulators because it tests whether France’s duty-of-vigilance framework can be used to push fossil-fuel producers to account for emissions from the use of their products, not just emissions from their own operations.

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