Paris police fire tear gas at oil protesters at TotalEnergies meeting

Protest is latest in spate of disruptions at oil company AGMs

Police officers remove environmental activists during a protest against TotalEnergies and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) as TotalEnergies holds its annual shareholders meeting in Paris, France, May 26, 2023. REUTERS / Stephanie Lecocq

French police fired tear gas to disperse the climate protesters. AFP

A protester receives assistance after the use of tear gas by the police. AFP

Dozens of protesters converged on the Salle Pleyel venue from dawn in a protest called by a coalition of activist organisations. Reuters

Warnings to disperse were given on loudhailers, before officers used tear gas on the activists, who sat on the road outside the meeting venue. Reuters

A protester is carried away. Reuters

Police officers and activists clash. Bloomberg

Police remove a climate protester. AFP

Police on Friday fired tear gas to disperse climate protesters trying to block an annual general meeting of French oil company TotalEnergies in Paris.

Three warnings were given on loudhailers, before officers used tear gas on the activists, who sat on the road outside the meeting venue in an upmarket Paris district, in an attempt to stop people entering.

Dozens of protesters converged on the Salle Pleyel venue from dawn in a protest called by a coalition of non-government organisations.

They chanted slogans such as "All we want is to knock down Total" and "One, two and three degrees, we have Total to thank".

Oil majors BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and TotalEnergies have together posted profits of more than $40 billion in this quarter.

Similar protests took place at recent meetings of other oil companies such as BP and Shell.

Shell criticised protesters who disrupted its annual shareholder meeting in London this week.

Security guards dragged away activists who tried to storm the stage at the event.

Shell chairman Andrew Mackenzie was unable to start the meeting for more than an hour as dozens of protesters stood up, chanting and singing “Shut down Shell” and “Go to hell, Shell".

In a statement Shell accused them of not being interested in “constructive engagement”.

On Thursday, Just Stop Oil protesters threw orange paint over a Chelsea Flower Show display.

The incident, caught on camera, prompted witnesses to shout abuse at the protesters before a woman grabbed a hose and doused the protesters with water.