Of Greenwashing to a real corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy: where are we really? Since the establishment of the European Directive on the publication of extra-financial data (CSRD), companies with more than 500 employees must analyze the financial risks to which they are exposed but also the environmental consequences of their activities (quantity of CO2 emitted , damage to natural environments, etc.). This sustainability report will reflect the reality of their CSR policy. However, in the application of this European directive, France is rather ahead. Little by little, a whole movement is developing, with on one side the constraints of the law, and on the other, the weight of employees convinced of the social and environmental role of companies. To the point of making it a choice for their career and gaining influence within management bodies. Silent, the CSR revolution is inevitable. Especially in the most polluting sectors.
With almost half of greenhouse gas emissions, the energy sector remains one of the most polluting on the planet. The reasons are known: long-term activities that are particularly capital-intensive, significant resources mobilized (land, water, materials). If some energy specialists practice greenwashing, this process seems untenable today. “Access to financing is increasingly conditioned by a good level of transparency on environmental performance,” warns Quentin Dérumaux, energy partner at Julhiet Sterwen.
Don’t just point the finger at the oil tankers
However, like the TotalEnergies group, which decided in 2023 to increase its hydrocarbon production over the next five years, the oil and gas majors are still investing in these energies. “We may regret it, but the oil activity remains hyper profitable, with a single organization, OPEC, which sets prices – when renewable energy markets are often local and volatile,” analyzes Vincent Maillard, president of Octopus Energy France, a supplier of green and local electricity. Before refusing to only point the finger at the oil tankers. “The entire legal and regulatory framework must be changed, providing greater incentives to develop and use renewable energies.” According to Olivier Aubert, director of Swen Capital Partners, a fund specializing in sustainable investment, the constraint in terms of environmental footprint remains fundamental: “The law should oblige oil and gas companies to incorporate a percentage of renewable energy in their sales.” A few months ago, 27 major shareholders of the oil company Shell submitted a resolution asking the firm to align its objectives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions with those of the Paris agreement. “If this resolution is unlikely to be passed this time, how much longer can the energy giants resist the demands of their employees, civil society and their shareholders?” asks Christophe Jourdin, energy partner at Magellan Consulting.
Especially since many indirect incentives are being put in place. Like the European taxonomy, which requires companies to publish the share of their activities that are unfavorable to the environment and, for investors, the share of their assets. Concretely, this taxonomy aims first to reduce false assertions (greenwashing), by defining at community level what is a “non-green” activity. It also aims to force followers of “greenhushing” – the fact, for certain companies, of knowingly keeping silent about the consequences of their activities – to avoid ambiguity. In France, the “socially responsible investment” label, allowing savers to distinguish funds that contribute to sustainable development, has seen its selection criteria strengthened since March 1, 2024.
An effort still insufficient
Beyond these normative constraints, the war for talent in which companies are engaged requires them to strengthen their employer brand through CSR commitments and results. “The effort of major French energy companies towards the development of renewable energies remains insufficient, assures Christophe Jourdin. But, in the past, they have demonstrated their capacity to change things. It is up to them to make the energy transition possible by working together on technological solutions and the evolution of consumption habits.”