Over 170 arrested as climate protests target TotalEnergies and fund manager

AFP | Paris 

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The boss of TotalEnergies told shareholders Friday that new oil fields had to be developed to meet global demand, as the annual meetings of the French energy giant and one of its biggest shareholders were picketed by climate activists.

Police said they detained 173 people among hundreds who gathered outside the Paris headquarters of Amundi, one of the world’s biggest investment managers and a major TotalEnergies shareholder.

Climate activists also gathered hours before the TotalEnergies annual general meeting opened. Greenpeace members unfurled a “Wanted” banner calling its chief Patrick Pouyanne “the leader of France’s most polluting company”.

The banner was quickly taken down by police. Several hundred activists belonging to Extinction Rebellion gathered outside Amundi for its general meeting.

A few dozen protesters forced their way into Amundi’s tower block, daubing graffiti on the walls and smashing some windows, police said.

Amundi said eight of its security staff were injured. The activists say TotalEnergies is contributing to global warming and the destruction of biodiversity through its gas and oil activities.

Pouyanne told shareholders that higher oil prices prompted by insufficient fossil fuel output “would quickly become unbearable for the populations in emerging countries, but also in our developed countries”.