#AskPP - Episode 1

Passant: He’s big guy, broad shoulders, right?

Charles A.: Hi, I’m Charles. I’ve got a question for Mr Pouyanné: Are you a climate sceptic?

Patrick Pouyanné: No, Charles, I’m absolutely not a climate sceptic.I believe in science, I believe scientists are right in saying that there is a phenomenon.

To be honest, I’d be hard-pushed not to believe it,as the phenomenon of climate change is there for all to see. That being said, it’s not about being a sceptic or non-sceptic, it’s about taking action, and TotalEnergies wants to play an active part in the energy transition.

The real challenge we face is that people are still using fossil fuels in their lives, that they want energy prices to remain low, and that the energy transition involves changing the way our energy is produced and used. I think it’s going to be challenging.

Today, it’s not about knowing whether or not people are sceptics, it’s about taking action, together. I truly believe that this challenge must be addressed by the whole of mankind, as it’s a global phenomenon.

People in France aren’t the only ones affected, it affects people right across the globe. And basically, it’s only by working together, and not by seeking to dismiss people’s good intentions, that we will ultimately succeed. It is through garnering as much support as possible that we will eventually finda positive solution to the climate change issue.

Marion P.: Obviously, travelling takes a chunk out of my budget, and the question I keep asking myself is when will prices stop rising? And if they continue rising, what will be done to make it less difficult to get from A to B?

Patrick Pouyanné: OK, so yes, petrol, fuel, is what enables you to get to work each day. Notably when you live in the suburbs, in the countryside, you need to use your car. Not everyone lives in Paris with access to public transport. I’m fully aware of that.

The price of petrol has gone up, the price of oil has gone up, taxes have gone up, so today, the pledge TotalEnergies has made is to set a price cap of €1.99. Maybe that’s what brought you to our pumps. At any rate, we’re doing our best to tackle the issue by protecting French consumers.

The pledge we have made doesn’t apply to all countries. We made the pledge in France because it’s a country we’re particularly attached to: it’s home to our Head Office, we employ 35,000 people here, and TotalEnergies is part of the French landscape.

We wanted to make a strong gesture by introducing a price cap.

François N.: Hi, my name’s François, and the question I have for Mr Pouyanné is: Is it purely for your own self-indulgence that the firm is sponsoring the Rugby World Cup?

Patrick Pouyanné: There are two main reasons why we’re sponsoring the Rugby World Cup.
Firstly, it’s a huge event for the host country, France, a country of which we’re immensely proud. We have 35,000 employees in France, the country’s hosting a major event, and I think that for a leading firm like ours, contributing to the event’s success by offering financial support seems like a good idea.

Secondly, it’s something our staff are immensely proud of. When we sponsor an event like this one, one of the biggest reasons we do so is to boost employee engagement. In actual fact, the firm bought around 15,000 tickets so that each member of staff, if they so wished, could attend a Rugby World Cup match.

Yes, I’m a rugby fan, but that’s merely a happy coincidence. Things like that aren’t what motivates the CEO of a firm, you know. The CEO of a firm is someone who always puts the business’s interests first. It was with all that in mind that TotalEnergies decided to sponsor the Rugby World Cup.

And that is, indeed, how the French population has interpreted our decision, with 70% of French people saying they think it’s a positive thing for TotalEnergies to sponsor this World Cup.