A few NGOSs and eight individuals impacted by climate change filed a criminal case in Paris today.

The plaintiffs accuse TotalEnergies’ board and leading shareholders of endangering lives and involuntary manslaughter.

One of the eight plaintiffs is a Belgian citizen who survived the floods of July 2021 (European floods).

In Belgium, the floods were devastating, killed many people and made huge material dommages.

However, in Belgium, we traced back the responsibility to one official who had committed a human mistake. And this happened in other European countries too. The cynical question would be: was this done on purpose and to what end?

I don’t think TotalEnergies can be accused of being responsible for climate change.

First of all:

We can agree on some kind of climate change. A few decennia ago, they had coined the term ‘global warming’ but that evolved into ‘climate change’…. so we don’t know for sure in what direction it is going (colder vs warmer… if those are even the right KPIs to measure climate change?).

Secondly:

The trillion dollar question (because it’s always about the money): is it man made? The WEF microcosmos and its ambassadors John Kerry and Bill Gates claim it is. The joke would say: that’s probably right because they know …. these 2 individuals have one of the highest carbon footprints in the world and want us (the normal people) to reduce our carbon footprint by buying electric vehicles etc.

The reality on this second point is even more complex: we don’t really know for sure why climate is changing. We understand the causes-to-effect mechanics but the climate is something dynamic and we can’t solve the complete equation.

And a philosopher would say: can we even speak of climate change? Is change not an inherent part of the climate?

Accusing TotalEnergies of climate change is ludicrous.

You can accuse TotalEnergies of human rights abuses, corruption & bribery, political interference, pollution, war profiteering, supporting and financing coup d’etats, etc. etc. etc. Look at what they’ve done in Africa. But accusing them of climate change is a farce. If TotalEnergies has anything to pay, it’s to the indigenous people of the regions where they got their black gold from.

Refs

TotalEnergies executives face criminal charges for climate harm