In February 2004, when Total devoted the third issue of Energies to climate change, public opinion was just starting to worry about a possible link between human activities and climate change, while the various reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) already regarded those links as probable. And as numerous discussions continued on implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, Europe was working out the details of the CO2 emissions quotas system that came into effect in January 2005.
Four years down the track, as we prepare to print our thirteenth issue of the magazine, what has been achieved? The latest report by the IPCC, published in December 2007, confirms that the Earth’s climate is changing and will continue to change, and that a number of these changes are now irreversible. It goes on to stress the vital need to define prevention policies but also adaptation strategies. Al Gore also underlined this need in spectacular fashion throughout his film An Inconvenient Truth, and as a result he shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the team from the IPCC led by Rajendra Pachauri. Since the Bali Conference on Climate Change in December 2007, which took the first step towards a “post-Kyoto” agreement, international discussions have been continuing in an effort to involve all players in taking preventive measures.

 

  

Another decisive factor that has marked the beginning of this century and compounded the “climate crisis” is the “energy crisis”. This is characterized by the sharp increase in oil and gas prices and market tensions linked to concerns that production capacities would not be able to keep pace with rising demand engendered by rapid development in the emerging economies. If we are to weather both crises at the same time, our best option lies in energy efficiency. We must pursue growth while at the same time reducing energy consumption, changing our behaviour and improving our facilities.
As a producer, a distributor but also as a consumer of energy, Total is vitally concerned here, and we are already working to improve our processes in line with the action already taken to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Some time ago, our Exploration & Production Division began to reduce flaring of the gases associated with oil production and our Refining & Marketing segment set about deploying cogeneration plants. In parallel, we are also now stepping up our energy-efficiency campaign and our work on development of new technologies. One example here is research into CO2 capture and geological storage, carried out notably through a pilot project in the Lacq Basin in south-west France. In addition to our efforts to improve our industrial operations,

 

we have launched new programmes to help our customers reduce their own emissions by offering them “energy-saving” products and the appropriate services to go with them, and by increasing our investments in renewable energies.
All the players on the international stage now face a formidable challenge, which brings not only risks but opportunities. We thus have to reconsider our scheme, to take a new look at all the long term issues associated with our modes of development and furthermore to find pragmatic solutions. There will be no single solution; the way ahead will involve a combination of several complementary solutions. And we must work together to find them.

Jean-Michel Gires,
Vice President, Sustainable Development and Environment, Total