French oil company Total votes today at its general meeting to change its name to TotalEnergies, signaling its intention to bet on less polluting energy production and responding to shareholder pressure on climate change.

The general assembly of Total, one of the five largest in the world and the one that invests the most in Africa, has only one item on the agenda, which is the change of name, and which will also mean an evolution in the identity of the company, which was born in 1924 under the name Companhia Francesa dos Petróleos.

"With this we affirm the company's desire to transform itself into a multi-energy company to meet the dual challenge of the energy transition, which is to produce more energy with fewer emissions," said the company's CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, in statements quoted by international news agencies.

The company is under pressure from some shareholders who argue that the oil and gas projects should simply stop. If this happens, it would have serious consequences in several countries, such as Mozambique, which depends on Total's investment in the north of the country to guarantee revenues to support the rising cost of debt and to finance the recovery and development of the economy.

Total's name change also comes just weeks after the International Energy Agency called for the suspension or cancellation of all oil and gas projects to try to control climate change, starting with global warming.