French oil giant Total defends strategy after police teargas climate protesters

Climate protesters raise their fist as scuffles between police and protesters broke out with the use of tear gas during a demonstration outside the Paris venue for TotalEnergies AGM on May 26, 2023. AFP - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT

French electricity giant TotalEnergies has defended itself after police teargassed climate activists outside its annual assembly in Paris on Friday. The government has urged the firm to speed up the switch to renewable energy.

"The climate is at the heart of our concerns," TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne told a few hundred attendees at the Salle Pleyel concert hall in the capital.