Transcription
[Music] CEOs used to talk [Music] of. But these days, given the scale of natural disasters linked to climate change, floods, droughts, devastating wildfires, major firms are being urged to take action to save our planet. It seems like these CEOs are now prioritizing the environment and climate, which have become major concerns. Climate change continues to be our biggest [Music] challenge. Our planet matters. That's why our commitment to sustainability is not only essential to our world, but it's also essential to our [Music] business.
The upshot is that one of the so-called super major oil companies has decided to be ethical and go green. Whatever you do, don't call it Total. It's now Total Energies, in the [Music] plural. But there's still a long way to go in becoming a green giant. According to the latest figures provided by the multinational corporation, we have worked out that Total currently derives 92% of its revenues from fossil fuels, and by 2030, hydrocarbons will still make up 80% of its turnover. Becoming a green energy giant is not going to happen overnight.
Has the multinational listened to the International Energy Agency's warning to limit climate change? The IEA advises against launching new oil exploration projects. No new oil and natural gas fields are required beyond those that have already been approved for development. It looks like Total Energies is paying no heed to this caution. It has a huge oil exploration project in Uganda in the pipelines. This project has been criticized by various NGOs who have denounced the risks of irreversible damage to the environment and climate, and serious violations of human rights. Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of Total Energies, vehemently denies such accusations. [Music]
You are quite right, Mr. [Music] Pouyanné. We need to go to the site in Uganda to uncover the truth. To be able to investigate freely in this extremely authoritarian country, we decided to pose as wildlife-loving tourists. [Music] Look, Total Energies is following us. Where there are tourists, there are holiday snaps, and we didn't have to try too hard. With its breathtaking sunrises over the Savannah, wild animals by the thousands, some of which are endangered, spectacular waterfalls whose waters gush at a staggering rate between narrow gorges into the Nile. This country is aptly described as the pearl of Africa. But this game might never look the same. [Music] Again, because Total, along with its Chinese and Ugandan partners, has just started construction of its mega project, Tilenga EOP. There are 400 oil wells drilled in the north of the country, on the shores of Lake Albert. Of these oil wells, 140 are located in Uganda's largest national park, Murchison Falls. 200,000 barrels of crude oil are extracted over the course of each day. To transport this viscous oil, a 1,445 km long pipeline, heated to 50° Celsius, crosses 16 protected natural areas. The pipeline transfers the oil to Tanzania, where it will then be shipped to Europe. This project is expected to emit 34 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year, equivalent to the annual emissions of 13 million cars. In order to carry out this colossal project, 100,000 people will have their homes [Music] expropriated. Total Energies maintains that the people affected by the project will see their financial situation improve. But can we really take their word for [Music] it?
We begin our investigation in the south, in the Masaka region, a remote area where there is less police presence than in the rest of the country. 3,800 households, that's nearly 20,000 people, are affected by the pipeline's route in Uganda. Like this father, who says he hasn't been able to use his land for four years. "My name is Robert. Total came to my land before Total's subcontractor forbade him to operate on his land. There was an open pit sand mine here. Okay? So I used to come here every day, and this was the entrance of the sand mine. Yeah. So, what is this? It's a peg. It's the location where the oil pipeline seems to pass. It is going to cross the road. They said it is the junction. Is that of Total? They placed it since 2018, even before construction began." Robert B. Mwerer has not been able to use his mine as it was preempted for the project. "I feel in much fear. I think a lot. How am I going to [Music] survive?" Before Total arrived, the family man earned €780 per month, more than three times the average salary in the country. These days, he can no longer afford to send his children to school. In Uganda, you must pay for education. In terms of compensation, he tells us that Total offered the equivalent of €7,800, which he deemed a pittance and refused. [Music] [Music]
He had hoped to leave his mine to his children. Now he's still waiting. He has no idea whether he will ever receive proper compensation, so he decided to fight back by becoming a spokesman for this [Music] village. According to the October 2022 estimates, 55.4% of the people affected by the project, that's 66,800 residents, are still waiting to receive compensation from Total. Some people are not included in these official figures. They don't own land or a home affected by the project. However, the pipeline is going to make their life much more difficult. Such is the case for this man. The only source of water in his village will be blocked off by the pipeline. For the 3,000 residents in John Bosco Kiwa's village, the water from this spring is vital. They use it to cook, clean, laundry, feed cattle, and once boiled, quench their thirst. John Bosco Kiwa says that their only contact with a representative from Total was back in 2018. They asked for a new well. We discovered dozens of stories like that of John Bosco and his water spring, or Robert and his mine, over the course of our investigation. But we don't hear about any of these people in Total's publications. The multinational would rather show off their great social achievements made possible thanks to their oil project. On their Twitter account, Total has posted a video of a certain Judith, who is all smiles, posing in front of her beehives that were paid for by Total. "My name is Judith. I'm from Kicora village. I was affected in Rap 1. Total Energies gave support to me with the 10 beehives. Like now I'm talking, I have 60+ beehives on the site. The project has changed my life, increasing more money in my life. My children, they are in school, all of them. They are in private school." We found this same Judith in articles written by fellow journalists who took part in a press visit to Uganda with all airfare paid by Total. For example, in the magazine L'Obs, or here in Jeune Afrique. Judith is probably the best example of Total's financial support to the residents. We too asked to visit the Total Energies plant in Uganda, but the company [Music] refused.
In any case, there is a sort of discrepancy between the testimonials the company is presenting and the ones we gathered ourselves in Uganda. We're not the only ones who have noticed this. Pierre Larrouturou is a member of the European Parliament. He is initiating a resolution, voted by Parliament, which has called for an embargo on the [Music] project. For For no reason, the media thought the story was too good to be true. One particular detail got him [Music] thinking. To clear up this mystery, Pierre Larrouturou and his colleagues went back to see Judith, this time without being chaperoned by Total. Judith was not there, and when they opened the beehives one by one... Let's leave Pierre Larrouturou for a moment to return to our investigation in Uganda, this time to inquire into the human rights violations denounced by the NGOs. Human rights activists here have come under pressure or been arrested for standing up for those affected by the project, known here as PAPs. We have arranged a meeting with one of them near the town of Buliisa in the northwest of the country. In this oil drilling region, journalists investigating Total's activities are monitored closely by the authorities. The Ugandan president is very keen on this project and has made oil a personal matter. "The oil was discovered by the NRM under my leadership. With this awareness, Uganda would become certainly a first-world country in the next 50 years." Uganda is currently one of the poorest countries in the world, plagued by rampant [Music] corruption, where all opposition to the regime is severely repressed. As an opponent of this oil project, our contact lives in hiding. To reach him, accompanied by our driver, we must first find a mediator. He will act as our guide for the last few kilometers, but that alone is no mean feat. [Music] "Quite anxious about the fact that we are coming to make interviews in Buliisa, you know? Yeah, sure. Yeah, because of the pressure they had." 70 kilometers later, we go past a certain bridge and descend a certain mountain. So now we must keep our eyes peeled. We can't afford to miss him. Ah, is that him on the left? No. Or perhaps this person here? No. Him? Oh, wait, that's a woman. Well, that can't be him. He would have waved. Ah, it actually was him. Nice to meet you, guys. Hi. Our contact immediately asks us to remain discreet and cautions us. "The government officials, we don't allow anybody who talks about the damage which is being brought by the Tilenga. They just want to defend them. Even the PAPs, the project-affected persons, they don't want to talk about it at all. So when we talk about that, you become the enemy to the government officials. And what happens? And if that we are here to talk about that, that one automatically they will arrest us. And then what? After arresting? Yeah, they take you in." The guide makes us take the backroads to avoid the police station and the Total offices in Buliisa. "This one is okay." We finally find the activist underneath a mango tree. "It's out to find you. Very nice. How are you? My name is Joseph Muga. Because I disagreed with the performance of Total in oil and gas activities, I went to prison for two months." Joseph Muga is the president of a local NGO that is campaigning for Total to properly compensate the 100,000 affected people. Many are farmers who live off their land and they are not allowed to use their land. "How do you stop someone from using the land, the only resource that he has been depending on? For some people, have stayed for five, six years with no compensation." In October 2021, the NGO's office was closed by the authorities, and a few days later, Joseph was arrested. The activist was accused of purportedly making threats to members of his family, which he has always denied. He was sentenced to 58 days in [Music] prison. "The conditions were very harsh. I was enclosed inside, no permission to go out. And that's why even right now, I'm feeling problems with my sight. Very poor now. I can't read and write. Get myself dirty because of food, water, very unsafe. And even up to now, I developed itchy my body had times crashing myself because the skin has been destroyed because of bed things like bedbugs, lying on the wall, no bed sheet to cover yourself." Joseph Muga was eventually released. Since then, he has continued to speak out on this matter. "For its violation of the Ugandan Constitution, the act provides that the government may acquire land on behalf of proponents such as Total, but in exchange, the government must guarantee prompt payment of fair and adequate compensation." For his attempt to enforce this right, Joseph now lives in fear. "I feel very insecure. Do I move? I can't move alone freely. My movements are restricted." "And what about your family? Do you feel threatened?" "They threatened. They have even been advising me to resign from that system of work, but I say no, I must die like Jesus." He has since been arrested again. Repeated violations of human rights is something Pierre Larrouturou also noticed during his visit to Uganda. For For Total claims to have got everything planned out to protect the environment and biodiversity. In these videos of the company, scientists whose projects have been funded by Total explain everything that's being done on site to protect the [Music] animals. "We are attempting to count all the birds we can record in three different habitats. We put what we call uh telemetry devices, and colloquially they are called radio collars. Count the animals, put collars on them, to watch them by drone, to predict their movements, and then create passages for [Music] them." Total also pledges to increase the number of park rangers by half to clamp down on poachers. The multinational even has a biodiversity coordinator on site. "The overall goal for biodiversity is to leave the Murchison Falls Conservation Area in a better condition than if the project had not taken place." This goal was made into a commitment during a press release in December [Music] 2021. Total's project has left the international scientific community rather skeptical. But in Uganda, with the exception of Tom Ogwang, very few openly dare to criticize them. "I've had a lot of uh knowledge about what Total is doing on behalf of an expert panel appointed by the Ugandan government." This researcher, a specialist in oil projects, has examined the measures planned by the French firm to alleviate the impacts on wildlife. "You cannot control animals unless you're going to fence off the entire park. Then it becomes a zoo, it's not a park. Because in the park, animals are moving freely. They're looking for pasture, they're looking for water, they're looking for whatever, you know. Animals are animals. So even if you put drones, some of the mitigation measures that Total promised seems to be unrealistic. Some of Total's other proposals may even prove to be counterproductive. Doubling the number of rangers, as Total is proposing, may actually complicate the problem because the more rangers you have in the park, the more interaction and disturbance you're having on the animals. The whole concept is that animals don't want to be disturbed. They don't want light, they don't want noise. Yet the activities of Total will definitely produce noise, they will need light. So will the rangers stop the light from lighting? It's not possible." "Total claims that its project will have a net beneficial impact on biodiversity and the environment. Uh, what do you think about this statement?" "The statement made by Total that its activities will have a net benefit uh outcome on the environment is far, far reaching. We can say maybe they will try to mitigate, but there's no guarantee. So it's sort of a laughable statement." In this report, the independent expert mission has made some rather damning conclusions on the multinational's commitments. "The assessment processes are not very transparent. Impact studies are biased and focus insufficiently on key issues. The report presents a very positive picture of what Total will do and tries to hide away or to run away from the negative aspects of their activities. I would say it's not fit for the purpose." In response to criticism, Total has made some new promises: restoring forests for the chimpanzees and reintroducing [Music] rhinos.
Total Energies refused our interview requests but responded to our questions in writing. The multinational claims that the indemnification process has accelerated since this autumn and that only 20% of affected families are yet to receive compensation. The company states that it has a complaint management system that records all grievances, including for the compensation process. As for Judith's beehives, shown to European parliamentarians, Total Energies maintains that they were empty because they were new and being prepared for the next season.
Total Energies is not the only multinational to assume social and ecological responsibility. It now seems that all the major companies have the same objective: carbon neutrality. [Music] This is top of the agenda for major business leaders. "We want to make BASF carbon neutral by 2050. At Google, we were the first major company to be carbon neutral in our operations." It seems that achieving carbon neutrality is the holy grail for multinational companies. But what does that even mean? Imagine taking a nice bath. The planet is a little like this bathtub, and the water from the tub represents greenhouse gases like CO2 generated by human activity. The CO2 remains stable for a long time, like the water levels in this bathtub, because the CO2 is evacuated, absorbed by forests, soil, and oceans, which are known as carbon sinks. [Music] Except now, global warming is getting [Music] worse. The water flow increases because we are emitting more CO2, and the water in the bathtub doesn't drain as easily. Why? Well, because the pipes are blocked. In other words, the forests are disappearing, and the soil and oceans are saturated with carbon. So, our planet is saturated with greenhouse gases. It is like this bathtub about to [Music] overflow. To prevent the excess of CO2 and global warming, there is only one solution: rebalance everything. Firstly, by turning off the emissions tap, and then allowing the new carbon sinks to absorb the CO2, particularly by preserving [Music] forests on a global scale. This is how carbon neutrality [Music] works.
But nowadays, it has become a marketing tactic for businesses who label their products carbon neutral. Bottles, carbon neutral nappies, carbon neutral tomatoes, even carbon neutral coffee [Music] capsules. With this promise, Nespresso allows you to enjoy its coffee pods with a clear conscience. Did you hear the CEO of Nespresso correctly? These 10 billion capsules that are sold every year, made from aluminum and mined halfway around the world, are allegedly carbon neutral and do not impact global [Music] warming. Yeah, right. [Music] By what miracle is Nespresso managing to make these capsules carbon neutral? In their official documents, the multinational has outlined the ways it achieved this. It has reduced its emissions by 5%, mainly through the recycling of capsules. As for the 95% remaining emissions, Nespresso is focusing on carbon offsetting by planting trees. What to make of these business climate strategies? We have a meeting with this carbon markets expert. [Music]
For For carbon offsetting may be an ecological misconception, but there's no denying that it's a flourishing economic market, now valued at over 1 billion euros. One of the leaders in this market is called Pur Projet. This startup was founded in 2008 by Frenchman Tristan Le. He's the face of the business and is quite well regarded by the media. "Our mission is to save the planet." Tristan Le plants trees and sells carbon credits to multinational businesses such as Nespresso. You're probably wondering how it all works. We'll explain everything. Nespresso emits lots of CO2, like all companies. It's mapping its carbon footprint to reduce it. Nespresso is doing what we call carbon [Music] offsetting. It uses a third party, Pur Projet. Pur Projet plants trees. Every tree that is planted absorbs carbon. One ton of sequestered CO2 entitles the company to one carbon [Music] credit. Pur Projet sells this carbon credit to Nespresso, which can in turn remove one ton from its carbon footprint. And this is how Nespresso collects carbon credits and can thus claim to be removing 95% of emissions from their carbon footprint. And what better way to make its carbon footprint greener than rushing to the rescue of a righteous cause: the Amazon rainforest, an area threatened by deforestation. In Peru, the multinational is one of the main financiers of a project that goes by the title "Jubilee Sere." [Music] These farmers plant Pur Projet trees. They are responsible for maintaining them until maturity. They can then chop them down and sell them. Over the years, these trees will have stored CO2 and therefore generated carbon credits, improving the lives of Peruvian farmers while storing carbon. Storing carbon is a nice idea, but once again, a flight of fancy. We are here in Lamas, in Northern Peru. There are no representatives from Pur Projet here. The firm outsources the planting of trees to a local cooperative. Julio Cesar Garcia is the project coordinator for the reforestation. 1 million trees have been planted in the area by 1,200 coffee and cocoa farmers. And that's not all. [Music] His task is not just limited to the distribution of plants. He and his team also monitor the growth of trees on the land. To find out more about these tree plantations, we will have to head deep into the Amazon rainforest, in the village of Alto Shambuyaco. We are meeting with one of the oldest members of the cooperative involved in the project. Victor Salas owns three hectares of land in the hills of the village and grows cocoa, coffee beans, and since 2010, trees for Pur Projet. But the beautiful view must be earned. 45 minutes of uphill hiking later, we reached the plantation. [Music] [Music]
He recommended him to plant this tree that is native to Asia in the middle of his cocoa trees. The combination of these two crops was supposed to boost his cocoa production. But on Victor's plantation, the trees didn't have the desired effect. Pur Projet. In the last 5 years, he has cut at least 100 trees out of the 1,200 planted trees. The agronomist assured us he informed the cooperative that he cut down the trees that were meant for storing carbon, but didn't specify the number, and he didn't replace [Music] them. What Victor Salas is doing is not in compliance with Pur Projet's rules. In these official documents, the company has planned annual tree cuts, but under several conditions. It says here that "the entity's technical team will be in charge of the process of selection of the trees to be cut down, and most importantly, that all harvested trees, in other words, chopped down, will be replanted." Is Victor Salas an isolated case? We have a meeting with another farmer. His face is familiar to us. We came across Juan de Mata in Pur Projet's press documents. [Music] According to documents, Juan de Mata planted 596 trees. That was in 2010. Today, this cocoa farmer estimates that only half of them are left. More than 100 have not survived, and he admits to having cut more than 100 for personal use, such as cooking, heating, and furnishing his [Music] home. These missing trees will have gone undetected by Pur Projet. Juan says he didn't sign a contract with the cooperative and that he has lost contact with the project leaders. We have new questions for the cooperative. Don't forget, they told us that they carefully monitored the development of the trees. [Music]
Eight people to control an area of 2,500 plots with 1 million trees. It's difficult, that's for [Music] sure. How can they ensure the storing of the sold carbon credits under such circumstances? In this official document, Pur Projet has guaranteed 23,768 carbon credits for Nespresso, so between 2015 and 2019, which is how many tons of CO2 the trees absorbed. We asked Tristan Le to interview by mail, then by phone, because he lives in Thailand. Hello. He wishes to clarify two things about the reforestation program in [Music] Peru. For For, despite being a television regular, Tristan Le does not seem very willing to meet us. No surprise there, then. Meanwhile, let's recap. This project is certified by a standard, Verra VCS, which guarantees that the carbon is actually being stored. From our talk with Tristan Le, this all seems well regulated. Every 5 years, a certification body inspects 10 to 15% of the plantations, and most importantly, Pur Projet doesn't sell all the carbon credits generated by the planted trees. It reserves 20 to 30% of them, a sort of life insurance for the trees. Let's dive back into the project's official brochure. The first shock: it's not 20 to 30% of credits that are being reserved, but just 10%. It's written right here. And that's not Tristan Le's only inaccuracy. A leading organization that audited this Pur Projet program in 2015 visited a total of 14 plantations out of 2,416. That's just 0.57% of the plantations. In 2019, a second certification body visited just 9 out of 3,810, or 0.23% of plantations. This is nowhere near the 10 to 15% mentioned by Pur Projet's boss. Let's go back to Alain, the carbon markets [Music] expert. For For Verra For. After all this, we called Tristan back. He refuses to pick up. Pur Projet simply sent us an [Music] email. "The quantity of credits is accurately determined in an independent and transparent manner by Verra VCS. Pur Projet can therefore not sell more carbon credits than what was certified on site." And is Nespresso, which buys carbon credits to offset 95% of its CO2 emissions, being thorough enough? The company responded in writing: "We only purchase carbon credits that are certified to the highest industry standard. They ensure that the impacts relating to each carbon credit generated are real and independently verified through regular audits." Both Nespresso and Pur Projet are hiding behind the Verra standard. So we got in touch with them. They told us that the carbon credits are calculated based on the methodology developed by the United Nations, adding that in the future, with data collection via satellite images, accuracy will improve. Before we finish, we must tell you one more thing. Nespresso has announced the sale of biodegradable coffee capsules. However, the brand continues to sell its aluminum capsules. [Music] He [Music]