The Total Foundation works to identify and promote innovative actions to facilitate access to jobs for young people. For instance, it has committed €50  million over six years alongside the French Ministry of Youth Affairs to develop field projects financed by the Fonds d’expérimentation pour la jeunesse, a community development fund for youth. This is one way of providing sustainable access to education, culture, mobility, equal opportunity and the workforce.

In partnership with the Pasteur Institute, the Total Foundation helps to prevent and treat infectious diseases by supporting research projects and public health initiatives in developing countries that host Total operations. The Total Foundation pays particular attention to ensuring that skills are transferred to local stakeholders to ultimately achieve self-sufficiency.

Leveraging Total’s international reach, the Total Foundation facilitates cross-cultural dialogue. It supports major cultural institutions in France, such as the Louvre Museum, the Quai Branly Museum and the Arab World Institute, by regularly sponsoring exhibitions. With French heritage preservation association Fondation du Patrimoine, it also supports the preservation of traditional crafts and industry and the restoration of heritage sites. In addition, the program promotes training and workforce entry through restoration projects.

The Total Foundation supports research programs to broaden knowledge of marine and coastal species and ecosystems, as well as issues related to their protection. It also helps to restore fragile ecosystems and to preserve the endangered species that inhabit them. Further, it shares knowledge through awareness and education drives focused on the rational use of natural resources.

The Total Foundation supports Total employees as they engage with the community. Since 2006, it has funded 245 projects championed by non-profit associations with which employees volunteer on a personal basis.

With a strong offshore component in its work and the risks that entails, it made sense for Total to partner French search and rescue association Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM). A non-profit association, SNSM is active in a variety of areas, including offshore rescues (it is responsible for 50% of all such operations in France), training for search and rescue personnel, and preventing risks related to the sea. Since December 2007, Total has supported SNSM in developing resources to improve the safety of the people who work at sea, providing €2 million a year over five years.