Preserving species and ecosystems: a global challenge, a priority for Total

Our employees, especially in the Upstream, encounter a wide variety of natural environments, including temperate regions, wetlands, lagoons and coastal sites, mangrove forests, deserts, tundra and taiga, boreal and tropical forests, coral reefs, the Arctic and ocean deeps. All are vulnerable ecosystems and each requires a dedicated approach. We also operate facilities in the heart of crowded industrial areas. We need to devote the same attention to protecting the often-underappreciated biodiversity that exists within or on the periphery of these areas.

Our environmental footprint takes different forms. Besides land use and emissions, human activity near our sites increases, which may further disrupt fragile balances. It is our responsibility to manage and minimize these risks, both at our long-established business units and in new locations, especially as we develop non-conventional resources.

Solidifying advances

Biodiversity is not a new concern for Total, which created the Corporate Foundation for Biodiversity and the Sea in 1992.

In addition to supporting initiatives to preserve or restore ecosystems and species, the Foundation has helped broaden knowledge in these areas, with the support of a network of specialized NGOs, institutions and scientists.

In line with the main international conventions, including the UN Convention on Biological Diversity adopted at the Rio Summit in 1992, we work with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) on topics directly related to oil and gas in order to move our practices forward.

A formal, Group-wide policy

For several years now, we have been adapting our internal guidelines, requirements and procedures and systematically conducting baseline surveys and impact assessments for all projects prior to their launch.

Strengthening our commitment, in 2005 we issued a formal Biodiversity Policy Statement and published a roadmap. The Policy Statement is aimed at:

• Minimizing our biodiversity footprint;
• Integrating the protection of biodiversity in our Environmental Management System;
• Paying special attention to regions whose biodiversity is particularly rich or vulnerable;
• Taking part in scientific research and helping to improve our knowledge of biodiversity.

For the last four years, we have been working toward genuine, organized biodiversity management, considered to be an integral part of our overall strategy.

Three steps in a more proactive process

Learn, protect and do more. Described in the Practical Biodiversity Guide distributed in 2007, our process begins with a detailed survey of the site, ecosystems and local issues.

Protection involves action plans defined very early on in the process and the payment of appropriate compensation for proven damages.

It also entails the documented monitoring, on a case-by-case basis, of the effectiveness of measures taken, such as creating wildlife corridors, reducing our physical footprint, limiting disamenities of all kinds, and preventing the introduction of invasive species.

Total is emphasizing a number of measures for doing more to protect biodiversity, including improving the reliability of tracking indicators, updating geographic information systems (GIS) that show how close our facilities are to the protected areas defined by IUCN, the United Nations or UNESCO, and continuing our scientific partnerships and research. We are especially interested in sharing more of the data collected at our sites and inviting all interested stakeholders to analyze and act on them with us.