TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné Spars with Activists at COP30, Sidesteps Climate Science

Rare appearance by an oil CEO at COP30 sparks confrontation

The chief executive of France's TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, one of the few oil industry leaders to attend the UN climate talks in Belém, defended his presence at COP30 on Friday and clashed with activists while avoiding direct claims about his sector's role in global warming.

After participating in a panel on decarbonizing oil and gas, Pouyanné was approached by a Greenpeace campaigner pressing fossil fuel companies to compensate victims of extreme weather events attributed to climate change.

"There have been cyclones in the Caribbean for decades," Pouyanné responded. When the activist said cyclones were "accelerating," he answered, "I am not a scientist." Asked later about evidence that hurricanes are growing more intense, he added, "I am not a meteorologist."

Pouyanné added: "I simply observe that, unfortunately, there were (cyclones), there are still (cyclones) and there will be more."

Scientific assessments from the IPCC, the UN body that evaluates climate science, conclude that climate change is unlikely to increase the total number of tropical cyclones but is expected to raise the frequency of the most intense storms. Emissions from burning fossil fuels — oil, gas and coal — remain the main drivers of global warming.

Pouyanné spoke on a panel about decarbonizing the oil and gas industry alongside a representative from Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras and a government official. The presence of industry representatives at the summit has drawn criticism from campaigners concerned about fossil fuel influence on negotiations.

According to analysis by advocacy group Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO), 1,602 delegates with links to the oil, gas and coal sectors traveled to Belém — roughly one in 25 participants. A Greenpeace activist cited a report from NGOs highlighting the scale of fossil-fuel–linked lobbying at COP30.

"I am not a lobbyist at all. ... You are very wrong," Pouyanné said, insisting he had been invited and that engagement is preferable to exclusion. "I don't think we will make progress on climate through exclusion because otherwise what will happen? We will stay in our corner, we'll make our oil and that's it?"

He also expressed skepticism about launching an official roadmap to phase out fossil fuels — a proposal some countries, including France, had hoped to advance at COP30. "It's a European vision, organized by governments. Perhaps we should also trust the stakeholders who are investing," he said, adding that relying on regulation alone is unlikely to succeed.

The president of COP30, Brazilian diplomat André Corrêa do Lago, cancelled a scheduled appearance to meet with Indigenous protesters who had blocked the main entrance to the conference centre, underscoring the tense atmosphere around access, representation and fossil fuel influence at the talks.

Context: The exchange highlights the ongoing debate at UN climate negotiations over the role of fossil fuel companies: whether to include industry voices in talks on transition and decarbonization, or to exclude them because of conflict of interest. The confrontation in Belém illustrates how that debate plays out in public fora.