TotalEnergies: French court ruling boosts African cases against polluters
- Zunaida Moosa Wadiwala and Tracy-Lynn Field
Some African countries have consumer protection laws that they could use to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for pretending to be green.
A court ruling in France could give African countries more power to hold corporations to account when they pretend to be environmentally friendly. The found global oil and gas giant guilty of misleading commercial practices, in a case brought by .
The October 2025 ruling marks the first time a fossil fuel major has been punished by the courts for – where a company makes misleading claims about being environmentally friendly.
TotalEnergies greenhouse gas emissions are , yet in an advertising campaign the company presented itself as a “major player in the energy transition”. The company also said it would reach net zero by 2050, meaning it would emit no more greenhouse gases than it could absorb.
The organisations told the court that TotalEnergies made consumers believe it had a climate plan that met the target of limiting global warming to less than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
To meet this target, greenhouse gas emissions need to drop by 43% by 2030. Fossil fuel polluters would need to stop most of their emissions.
The court that TotalEnergies adverts would be understood by the average consumer as a claim that the company was part of the fight against climate change.
We are climate law who what global court judgments against fossil fuel pollution and climate damage mean for Africa.
We believe the Paris Judicial Court ruling against TotalEnergies is a landmark moment in corporate accountability and climate litigation. TotalEnergies’ defeat in court shows that companies cannot just promise to become carbon neutral. Their climate pledges require clear targets and must be scientifically verifiable.
The French judgment could pave the way for consumers to hold corporations accountable for climate advertising claims in national and regional African courts. It shows that civil society can use consumer protection law to act against big polluters before regulators do - and may do so in Africa too.
Controversial energy projects stir backlash
TotalEnergies operates oil and gas projects in . It’s perceived as a because its large-scale oil and gas projects in Africa have been associated with environmental pressures and climate related concerns.
The company also has plans to expand on the continent. In August 2024, TotalEnergies to stop gas exploration in South Africa’s offshore blocks but later for offshore drilling in South Africa in 2026, if it receives the required environmental approvals.
In Mozambique, TotalEnergies has completed only 40% of a US$20 billion gas project that it paused for four years because of insurgent attacks in the Cabo Delgado region. The company faces a potential for asking for a 10 year contract extension to compensate for extra costs the delay has caused.
TotalEnergies is in the fossil fuel project in the in Uganda and Tanzania. Non-profit organisations there the pipeline is a “humanitarian and environmental disaster”.
What TotalEnergies did wrong
In France, greenwashing is regulated. To protect consumers, companies’ environmental claims must be accurate, verifiable, and not misleading. The law also outlines legal consequences for consumers.
The that TotalEnergies misled the public by saying it would reach net zero. This amounted to unfair and prohibited commercial practices, based on the .
The court ordered TotalEnergies to stop its greenwash advertising. It must publish the ruling on its website for 180 days or incur a penalty of €20,000 (US$23,000) per day. The company was also ordered to pay €8,000 (US$9,230) to the plaintiffs for causing non-financial harm.
What’s new legally is that the court didn’t just look at TotalEnergies’ greenhouse gas emissions to judge whether it was following climate rules. It checked whether the company’s future climate promises matched the legally binding goal (to limit warming to 1.5°C higher than the global temperature was before 1760).
The court ruled that it was misleading for TotalEnergies to make plans to increase oil and gas production, which releases more greenhouse gases, and at the same time claim to be reducing its carbon emissions.
In effect, the court applied a science-based standard to assess whether the company’s claims were true.
Why the judgment matters
The judgment follows several cases where the European Court of Human Rights has found that countries are not doing enough to prevent further climate damage. For example, the court found that had not developed enough climate policy to protect citizens’ rights to life. It also found that must conduct full climate impact assessments – including greenhouse gas emissions from burning oil abroad – before approving new oil and gas projects.
Both the and the have said that countries must make every effort to take precautions against human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The International Court of Justice has also confirmed that a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right.
Together with the TotalEnergies greenwashing ruling, these judgments reflect a deeper transition in climate law. The law has moved from regulating what polluters emit to scrutinising what they represent.
What’s next for Africa
The already recognises that people have the right “to a general satisfactory environment favourable to development”. And the court ruling makes it clear that misleading climate claims violate this right to clean development.
The ruling also makes it plain that greenwashing is a breach of consumer rights. For Africa, this means all governments must ensure that their consumer and advertising laws protect society from misleading greenwashing.
, Nigeria’s and already prohibit misleading claims by advertisers. And South Africa has been the first to test this law against climate communication. In August 2024, the South African Advertising Regulatory Board TotalEnergies of misleading sustainability advertising.
Overall, the ruling shows that misleading “green” or “carbon-neutral” claims could lead to legal action in African courts. For consumers, investors and policymakers, the lesson is clear: companies must be honest about their climate actions.
, Legal Researcher, PhD Candidate and Lead of the African Climate Law Programme, Mandela Institute, and , Director of the Mandela Institute, Professor of Law,
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