Police in Paris fired tear gas at climate activists blocking one of the entrances to a building where a general meeting of French energy company TotalEnergies was to be held.
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The event is to take place in the capital’s Pleyel Hall.
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After three warnings in less than one minute over a loudspeaker, law enforcement fired tear gas at a group of climate activists who had been sitting on the ground near the building since dawn to try to disrupt the assembly.
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When the company’s shareholders began to converge on the Salle Pleyel in the center of Paris, the police began spraying with gas and roughly pushing back with shields protesters who were trying to break through to the approachers with banners. The staff managed to push back a dozen activists who were sitting at the entrance to the hall.
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From early morning, protesters began to gather at the entrance to the congress center, where the next congress of the shareholders of the French energy company will be held.
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They hold signs reading “Listen to the scientists: no more fossil fuel projects”, “Total destroys, banks finance, we stand up”, “Without social and tax there is no climate justice” and chant “Shareholders, your profits are a crime against humanity!”
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“We demand real climate protection actions from Total, not false declarations,” said one of the protesters.
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In early May, French energy company TotalEnergies sued Greenpeace, which had previously accused the company of four times its reported CO2 emissions.
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Greenpeace noted that the time for filing the lawsuit was deliberately chosen ahead of the company’s shareholders’ convention on May 26. As previously reported by the media, the company called on its shareholders to vote against “any climate resolution that is contrary to its interests.” Activists called for a boycott of the event.
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In February, French oil and gas company TotalEnergies reported that it had increased its net profit by 28% to $20.526 billion in 2022. The company’s net profit in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 12% compared to the same period last year, to $5.557 billion.
