Only a Total fool would be convinced by giraffes and solar panels

The French oil company's investment in renewables sounds large, but it's a drop in the oil barrel

Donnachadh McCarthy
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 4 June 2009 11.16 BST

Wherever I look at the moment, I cannot seem to escape adverts from the oil industry proclaiming their investments in renewable energy. These have become so pervasive, that you might be persuaded that the large oil companies have seen the light on the climate crisis and are pouring a major proportion of their investments into developing renewable energy technologies. But is this the truth?
Take for example Total Oil. It is the world's fifth largest oil and gas company with operations in more than 130 countries. It has been running newspaper adverts boasting about its solar energy investments. They are festooned with pictures of giraffes and large solar-panels. Here's the blurb:
"To meet growing energy demands and to prepare for the future, Total is contributing to the boom in new energies, which complement fossil fuels. One of our priorities is the development of solar energy. Present for over 25 years in the photovoltaic field, Total is involved in a large part of the industrial chain with our subsidiaries Tenesol (manufacturer of solar panels, system development) and Photovoltech (cell manufacture)."
The advert goes on to say that Total is investing 100 million euros this year in solar energy.
The company's website also trumpets its green credentials. One of its four ambitions is: "Preparing for future energies, ie innovating and pursuing our research efforts to support the development of new energies."
To the casual reader this might sound impressive, but is it really a "priority" as the company's advert states? By Total's standards the sums involved are such small beer they would put a micro-brewery to shame. In 2009 their total investments will come to 14bn euros. Thus the 100 million euro solar investment amounts to less than 0.71%! Three quarters of their total investment is in exploration and development of oil and gas fields (so called "upstream" activities). The report from the annual shareholders' meeting and meeting of board of directors on May 15 describes this as "the priority growth sector".
Total also appears to have gone cold on other renewable energy technologies. It operates a wind farm in Mardyk near Dunkirk in France. But in the company's 2008 registration document it wrote: "Total has decided to dispose of certain of its wind farm projects."
So rather than making renewable technology investment a "priority" as their advert campaigns says, they are still investing vastly more in hydrocarbons. This lack of genuine commitment is further illustrated by the fact that buried deep within their much trumpeted environmental report, the indicator about the amount of renewable energy used by the company, is accompanied by the statement "Indicator Not Reported" (see page 98).
Scientists have recently calculated that the world can use less than half the known economically recoverable fossil fuel reserves by 2050, if we are to achieve the goal of avoiding dangerous temperature rises of over 2C this century. And last week, Kofi Annan's Global Humanitarian Forum announced a study which suggests that 300,000 people a year are already dying due to the climate crisis. The consequences of continuing the vast investments by the oil companies in finding ever more fossil fuels and all of us using them in ever growing quantities are simply homicidal.
I decided to file a formal complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about Total's campaign. This is really easy to do online, as they will even accept a scanned copy of the advert via email. I was disappointed however that they did not uphold the complaint. The judgment stated: "We don't consider that the ad implies that this is the main area or focus of their business." It sadly failed to address the consequences of companies constantly telling the public about the tiny proportion of their investments which are positive, while ignoring the vast majority which are destroying our climate.
Although I deplore the "greenwash", it would be a disaster if Total abandoned such investments. The world's population desperately needs these corporations' vast research and development resources to go into renewables.
If you or your pension fund are shareholders in such companies, ask them to support such investments at future AGMs. Alternatively, if you want to help persuade the ASA that there is public support for putting an end to this greenwash by the oil industry, file a formal complaint online to the ASA the when you see an advert with overblown green claims. It is far more fun than simply moaning about it!
• Donnachadh McCarthy works as an eco-auditor and is the founder of nationalcarbonfootprintday.org