WPC 2024 - Stéphane Michel - Plenary session 6: Geopolitics of Climate Change

Two good questions. Thank you. Good afternoon. I think COP28 was a very important COP because for the first time the West, the Global South, and oil and gas companies discussed the place of fossil fuels in the transition. Thanks to the leadership of Sultan Al Jaber, we came with a pragmatic and ambitious plan: speed up the transition, invest more, be much faster, while respecting the legitimate right of the Global South to use their fossil resources to develop, especially in Africa. Three key outcomes: triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, acknowledge the role of gas in the transition (since coal consumption is still rising), and ask the oil and gas industry to decarbonize its production—54 companies have signed the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter, representing 50% of the industry. COP28 reinforced our strategy. At TotalEnergies, we changed our name to reflect our focus on both molecules and electrons. We will reach 28 GW of renewables this year, target 45 GW, and are on track for 100 GW by 2030. We are active in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and building the world's largest solar plant in India (20 GW). We are also building a fully decarbonized 1 million ton LNG plant for bunker fuel, using solar power. CCS is important: we participate in a project in Norway with Equinor and Shell, have acreage in the US. We are a shareholder in a battery gigafactory for EVs. We are converting refineries to biofuels. For green hydrogen, we want to decarbonize all hydrogen in our refineries by 2030 (500,000 tons) and have launched a tender and projects in Europe.

For sure, we need to do so because in 2050 we will still use oil and gas and emit CO2. To achieve net zero, that CO2 must be stored. That's why CCS is important. We are participating in a project in Norway with Equinor and Shell, storing CO2 from European industry. We have also acquired acreage in the US for CCS. The bulk of the transition is electricity. We are a shareholder in a battery gigafactory in Europe for EVs. We need to reduce the cost of the transition on the demand side. We are transforming our refineries to process biofuels, already in France. For green hydrogen, we want to decarbonize all hydrogen in our refineries by 2030—500,000 tons—through a tender and projects in Europe, partly sourcing from Saudi Arabia.