“Celebrating a boss who continues his ecocide projects, what is the message? “Questioned on Twitter the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure. Several other left-wing politicians criticized, on Friday July 14, the promotion to the rank of officer of the Legion of Honor of the CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné.
Mr. Pouyanné, who had already been made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 2015, was elevated to the rank of officer on the occasion of the July 14 promotion. A decision from the Ministry of the Economy, denounced.
“Plunder natural resources, dig an ecocide project in Uganda and South Africa, accumulate billions on the destruction of the planet… And receive the Legion of Honor,” quipped Europe Ecology-The Greens MEP Karima Delli. “The level of cynicism, climatic denial, feeling of omnipotence and impunity of the President of the Republic is absolutely incredible”, abounded the ecologist deputy Sandrine Rousseau.
Reactions from La France insoumise
MEP Manon Aubry called it “the Legion of Honor of planetary destruction and tax evasion”. “To the CEO of Total, the grateful climate collapse”, for his part lamented the deputy Benjamin Lucas, when his colleague Alma Dufour saw in it “a huge finger of honor to climate change”.
“Investing in fossil fuels with carbon bombs in Africa, extorting motorists at the pumps, refusing to raise salaries and standing up to strikers: Pouyanné’s winning combo to be promoted by Macron to the Legion of Honor”, again mocked the “rebellious” MP Matthias Tavel.
Asked by Agence France-Presse, the Ministry of the Economy declined to comment and spokespersons for TotalEnergies were not immediately available.
Climate activists regularly denounce the activities deemed polluting by the energy supplier. TotalEnergies was also questioned earlier this week by the NGO Human Rights Watch, which considered that the mega oil project led by the French giant in Uganda was a “disaster” for the population, had “devastated the means of subsistence of thousands of people” and will “contribute to the global climate crisis”.
TotalEnergies had on the contrary affirmed “to put the environmental and biodiversity issues as well as the rights of the communities concerned at the center of the project”.