May 2020
Written by Sarah Casey, Portfolio Manager, Energy Council

Amidst the daily sobering news which is inevitably focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and struggling societies and economies, there are positive and exciting things happening, one being Total announcing their commitment to NetZero.

Total have now gone public with their ambition to reach Net Zero emissions by 2050. This new climate ambition is in support of the EUs carbon neutrality target and will encompass all of Total’s European businesses.

This significant step for Total is part of their strategy to transition from a traditional IOC to a broad-energy company incorporating low-carbon electricity and carbon-neutrality solutions.

Total have described the three major steps to achieve this as:

1.  Net Zero across Total’s worldwide operations by 2050 or sooner (scope 1+2)
2. Net Zero across all its production and energy products used by its customers in Europe2 by 2050 or sooner (scope 1+2+3)
3. 60% or more reduction in the average carbon intensity of energy products used worldwide by Total customers by 2050 (less than 27.5 gCO2/MJ) – with intermediate steps of 15% by 2030 and 35% by 2040 (scope 1 + 2 + 3)

Total is joining ranks with the likes of Shell, BP & Repsol, all of which have pledged to reach net zero emissions. For more information, take a look at our IOC low-carbon tracker here