On June 25, a Paris court handed down a ruling that climate advocates are calling historic: the Paris Judicial Court ordered TotalEnergies SE to revise its climate vigilance plan to account for the full carbon footprint of its global operations — including emissions generated when customers burn the oil and gas the company sells. The decision marks the first time a French court has applied the country's 2017 Duty of Vigilance Law to hold a fossil fuel giant accountable for the downstream emissions produced by its products. In practical terms, it means TotalEnergies must now disclose and mitigate Scope 3 emissions — the indirect pollution that happens far from company refineries, in car engines, home heating systems, and industrial facilities around the world. The court also ordered the company to pay €20,000 ($22,833) in legal costs to each of the five claimants that brought the case: the civil society organizations Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, Zéa, and France Nature Environnement, together with the city of Paris itself. The case was first filed in 2020 and heard in January 2026. Anne Stévignon, a legal specialist at Notre Affaire à Tous who argued the case, called the ruling a watershed moment. 'The judgment sends a very clear message that fossil fuel companies are responsible for all of their emissions, including those generated by customers using their products,' she said at a press conference following the decision. The 2017 Duty of Vigilance Law requires large French companies to identify and prevent risks to human rights, health, and the environment across their global supply chains. Wednesday's ruling confirms that climate risk falls squarely within that mandate. The claimants had pushed for even broader relief — asking the court to require TotalEnergies to align its business strategy with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and to begin reducing fossil fuel production. The court declined to rule on those demands, saying it must first assess how TotalEnergies complies with the immediate order to revise its vigilance plan. A follow-up hearing is scheduled for January 21, 2027. TotalEnergies said it 'notes with satisfaction' that the court rejected the more sweeping demands to halt new oil and gas projects, though the company acknowledged that reducing emissions 'also depends on consumer choices, such as purchasing an electric vehicle, a heat pump, or using biofuels.' For advocates, the win is significant precisely because it targets disclosure rather than production — creating legal pressure for transparency that could reshape how the company reports its true climate impact and, eventually, how it operates.