Greenpeace dumps tornado debris at TotalEnergies Paris HQ: Video

The activists placed personal items, including a muddy doll and debris from a recent tornado in South Africa, in front of the TotalEnergies headquarters, accompanied by a banner reading “Their profits, our loss” and “Make those responsible pay.”

This action is part of a series of global demonstrations coordinated to coincide with the second week of the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Greenpeace's goal is to draw attention to the role of fossil fuel industries in driving global warming and to urge governments to hold these companies financially accountable for the climate damages they are responsible for.

The aim is to "highlight" the "responsibility of fossil fuel industries in global warming", Sarah Cleaver, campaign manager at Greenpeace France, told AFP. "The idea is to ask governments to make the fossil fuel industry pay for the damage" it creates.

Greenpeace's protest comes amid growing calls for climate justice, with the organization pushing for a tax on the world’s largest oil and gas companies.

According to a recent study by Greenpeace and Stamp Out Poverty, taxing the seven biggest fossil fuel companies — ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, TotalEnergies, BP, Equinor, and ENI — could generate significant revenue for the United Nations’ climate loss and damage fund, established in 2022 to help vulnerable countries deal with the impacts of climate change.

The study suggests that a $5 tax per tonne of CO2 emitted by these companies, with annual increases tied to inflation, could raise $900 million by 2030 for the UN fund.

In response to the protest, a spokesperson for TotalEnergies acknowledged the right to demonstrate but condemned any form of violence. “TotalEnergies fully respects the freedom to demonstrate and freedom of expression,” the spokesperson said.