Total Drops API Membership

Citing a “detailed analysis” of the trade group’s stance on the climate issue, Total (NYSE: TOT) reported Friday that it has decided not to renew its membership in the American Petroleum Institute (API) for 2021.

The Total Group each year evaluates the main industry associations of which it is a member based on their alignment with the company’s climate positions, Total noted in a written statement. Pointing out that reviews in 2019 and 2020 found that API’s positions were “‘partially aligned’” with Total’s, the company stated Friday that its views diverge from API’s as follows:

• Citing Total’s Nov. 2019 opposition to the “rollback of U.S. regulations on methane emissions” in the natural gas sector, API continues to support the regulatory change.
• In terms of decarbonizing transport, API is involved in the Transportation Fairness Alliance – a group that opposes subsidizing electric vehicles.
• API and Total hold differing views on the principle of carbon pricing.

Total, noting that it backs the objectives of the United Nations’ “Paris Agreement,” also stated that API backed candidates during the recent elections who argued against U.S. involvement in the international climate change treaty. The Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement, but President-elect Biden has pledged to rejoin the treaty.

“(A)s part of our Climate Ambition made public in May 2020, we are committed to ensuring, in a transparent manner, that the industry associations of which we are a member adopt positions and messages that are aligned with those of the Group in the fight against climate change,” remarked Total Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné. “This transparency responds to our stakeholders’ expectations, as well as being an essential guarantee of the credibility of our strategy.”

In response to Total’s announcement, API tweeted the following:

To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.