Oil major Total announced that it would not renew its membership with the American Petroleum Institute (API) in 2021 after assessing its position on climate change.
The company cited six main reasons for the change, including its “science-based position that the link between human activity and climate change is an established fact”; its support for the Paris Agreement; its support for carbon pricing; its belief in the “key role” of natural gas in the energy transition; its support for further development of renewable energy; and its push to develop CO2 capture and storage technologies.
API was only partially aligned with these principles, supporting a rollback of U.S. regulation on methane emissions; opposing subsidies for electric vehicles; and the group also “gave its support during the recent elections to candidates who argued against the United States’ participation in the Paris Agreement.”
“The Group acknowledges the API’s considerable contribution, for over a century, to the development of our industry. Nevertheless, as part of our Climate Ambition made public in May 2020, we are committed to ensuring, in a transparent manner, that the industry associations of which we are a member adopt positions and messages that are aligned with those of the Group in the fight against climate change”, said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of Total. “This transparency responds to our stakeholders’ expectations, as well as being an essential guarantee of the credibility of our strategy.”
