Paris (AFP)
Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné regretted Tuesday a debate "too Manichean", when the hydrocarbon sector is under pressure to act against global warming, saying that the solution "will take time".
"The debate today is still far too Manichean, too skewed," said Patrick Pouyanné at a conference organized by Euronext in Paris.
"We think there is a white and black world. I understand that there are young people who want us to act, but it is a complex subject", according to him.
He was asked about the case of tennis player Roger Federer, criticized by environmental activists, including Greta Thunberg, for his links to a sponsor - Credit Suisse - who would encourage investments in fossil fuels.
Pouyanné acknowledged the existence of "pressure" on the oil and gas groups, while judging it "very Western, even very European".
"The shareholders ... what they want above all to ensure is the sustainability of our dividends", he also judged.
"Fossil fuels represent 90% of the world energy mix (bouquet, note) today. We are not going to make all this go away with a magic wand" and "all this will take time", also argued the CEO of Total.
"Everyone should fall back a little on Earth on this energy subject. I will not see in my lifetime an energy system based on renewable energy, we should still stop dreaming all collectively", said -he adds.
Total has largely diversified into natural gas and is investing in electricity from renewable sources, he said.
"We are thinking about whether the next [bond] issues that we will make, we will link them to an indicator that would show (...) how we contribute by the evolution of our investments to a less carbon trajectory ", said Mr. Pouyanné.
It would not be "green" bonds ("because we will be accused immediately of greenwashing") but "transition" bonds, he explained.
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