Total Woos Africa in Climate Strategy Report

Total chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne presented the company’s new Integrating Climate Into Our Strategy report to shareholders at its May 24 annual general meeting. 

Africa figured prominently in this new manifesto. Pouyanne noted that half of the 1.2mn people worldwide lacking access to electricity live in Africa, and that keeping the global temperature rise at 2°C is a challenge that everyone must meet, but that Africans shouldn’t suffer as a result.

“The challenge is not just to produce an energy mix that generates fewer emissions,” the CEO added, noting that Total and others should keep pace with changes in energy use, adopting digital technology, and adapting to macro-trends such as urbanisation – an issue that also figured prominently in this week’s African Economic Outlook 2016 report.

“I am convinced that being ‘the most African international oil company’ is another one of our strengths,” Pouyanne added: “Africa where these challenges are crucial will lead the way in energy innovation. We intend to be the responsible energy major that meets these challenges.”

Total and SunPower completed their 70 MW PV Salvador solar project in Chile's Atacama Desert in Jan.2015 (Photo credit: Total/SunPower)

Similar messages have come from Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, even ExxonMobil lately. However Total brings an added advantage. It is already a top-three solar player through majority-owned US firm SunPower and intends to remain so to 2035. Pouyanne said the challenge will be to maintain that position “and to successfully expand our operations – especially in Africa – which is likely to leapfrog to distributed generation based on renewable energies.”

Pouyanne declared that worldwide: “The main priority is to reduce the use of coal, which generates more emissions than any other type of energy, and to switch to gas and renewables for power generation; a carbon price of $30-$40 per ton would make this possible.”

Its new report cites how Total exited coal production, following the sale of its Total Coal South Africa business last December, and would be withdrawing from coal marketing globally by end-2016.

A month ago, Pouyanne announced that Total would re-create a Gas, Renewables and Power segment, and that this would “spearhead Total’s ambitions in the electricity value chain by expanding in gas midstream and downstream, renewable energies and energy efficiency.”   

Mark Smedley