TotalEnergies' charm offensive has ramped up, having been found guilty of making misleading claims about its commitment to sustainability this year.
A week before the COP29 climate talks began in Azerbaijan, TotalEnergies proudly unveiled a new public electric charging point in the middle of Uganda's capital, Kampala. It promised to establish more charging ports across the country. The launch, the French oil major said, was part of its "broader initiative to make electric mobility more accessible to support the growing demand for cleaner, reliable, and more sustainable energy solutions".
A week later, amid the negotiations in Baku, TotalEnergies, in partnership with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), took 40 or so local journalists on a three-day tour of its projects in the Albertine region. The reporters were taken to the Ugandan oil fields and facilities as well to see the multinationals' environmental and livelihood programmes.
To many energy experts and climate activists, TotalEnergies' efforts are a clear exercise in "greenwashing" timed for maximum influence during the major climate talks. They point out that, for all the company's PR on sustainability and energy transition, it remains the majority shareholder in the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). Studies suggest that the pipeline - which will transport crude oil from Uganda's Albertine region 1,443km to the Tanzanian coast - will damage critical ecosystems, displace over 100,000 people, and lead to an additional 34 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions.
"TotalEnergies is a wolf in a sheep's skin," says Bob Barigye, a Ugandan activist. "This carbon bomb has displaced tens of thousands of families in Uganda and Tanzania. There has been land grabbing and arrests of climate activists, and it is still adding more misery to our communities."
Andrew Kudakwashe, the Just Transition Associate at the think tank Power Shift Africa, says the French oil major is simply trying to fool people in their ruthless pursuit of profit.
"You can't have one finger in clean energy and two legs in fossil fuels," he says. "That is being hypocritical. Renewable energy is the only solution to cutting carbon emission, and what we see with TotalEnergies is clearly double standards of the highest order."
TotalEnergies has faced growing accusations of greenwashing in recent years. When it rebranded from Total and adopted to a new rainbow-themed logo in 2021, for instance, many critics rolled their eyes. More recently, however, the company's claims about its activities and climate change have seen it end up in court.
In 2022, environmental groups filed a lawsuit at the Paris judicial court accusing TotalEnergies of using "sly propaganda" in its advertising to claim the company is "a major player in the energy transition" and mislead the public into believing carbon neutrality can be reached while continuing to burn fossil fuels. In 2023, the pre-trial judge ruled that the legal action can proceed.
This August, the South African Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) found TotalEnergies guilty of greenwashing in an historic ruling. The complaint was filed by the campaign group Fossil Free South Africa who accused the multinational of making a "false and misleading" claim by saying in an advert: "we're committed to sustainable development and environmental protection". The ARB agreed, ruling that there is "no doubt that the core business of the Advertiser is directly opposed to the issue of sustainable development, as the ongoing exploitation of fossil fuels is contra-indicated in this context". TotalEnergies is appealing the ruling.
Amid this pushback, TotalEnergies is employing alternative strategies. This July, the company revealed it would be buying a 28.3% stake in the 250MW Bujagali Hydropower Dam in Uganda. Announcing the plan, Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said: "This acquisition of renewable hydroelectric assets and projects in Africa reflects our desire to contribute to the continent's energy transition."
TotalEnergies operations in Uganda are closely facilitated by government officials and President Yoweri Museveni, who has referred to the country's reserves as "my oil". The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) continues to reject campaigners' demand that an independent body conduct an environmental assessment report of TotalEnergies' activities. Security services have detained dozens of climate activists in a crackdown on dissent against oil projects in recent years. And the government and TotalEnergies have partnered together on various environmental initiatives such as the Running Out of Trees (ROOTS) tree-planting project.
Speaking at COP29, Barirega Akankwasah, Executive Director of NEMA, defended EACOP's existing environmental assessment report, saying it was done by a team of experts. He also defended the project and its climate impact as a whole.
"Uganda's carbon is currently low," he said. "But by 2060, Uganda would have reached the peak, and that is the time Uganda will have reaped enough fossil fuels to invest in renewable energy. After that, we will see Uganda's carbon emissions dropping down."
For Fadhel Kaboub, President of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity, these expectations around EACOP are dangerously naïve.
"It's going to be a debt trap, and Uganda will find itself getting stuck with fossil fuel dependence," he says. "TotalEnergies' oil is for only 30 years, but before a single drop has even been pumped, Uganda has already had to borrow money to build an airport for Total Energies to fly in its equipment."
"Remember, Uganda owns 15% of EACOP, which is not a lot," he continues. "Within those 30 years of extraction, the revenues will not be significant because most of the money will be going to the other shareholders...The economics don't add up".
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The role of fossil fuels - and the presence of nearly 1,800 fossil fuel lobbyists - has been a contentious issue at COP29. As with its predecessor, held in the UAE, the current climate talks in Azerbaijan are being hosted by a country whose revenues are heavily dependent on oil and gas. Last year, negotiators agreed a text that cited the need to "transition away from fossil fuels" for the first time in a COP agreement. In Baku, progress on this front had to be rescued from the brink of collapse earlier this week.
African climate activists continue to call for stronger language and action.
Turyahabwe Byempaka, Senior Energy Officer of the East African Community (EAC), accuses these campaigners of being "enemies of development" who peddle "Western propaganda".
But Shepherd Zvigadza, the coordinator of Climate Action in South Africa, says it is companies like TotalEnergies and elites who stand to profit that are guilty of propaganda. They are "partners in crime" whose "strategic move needs to exposed", he says.
In Uganda, a local employee of TotalEnergies who requested anonymity, says the oil company has more plans to court the local media in the pipeline and is set to organise a "joint media engagement party" at the end of the year.
John Okot is a freelance journalist based in Gulu, northern Uganda.
