On Thursday, a French court refused to consider a case brought by a coalition of environmental groups and local authorities seeking to force TotalEnergies to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to help combat climate change.

The coalition had launched legal action against the major energy company in 2020, arguing that its declared emissions commitments were insufficient to meet the targets set by the legally binding 2015 Paris Agreement.

The groups also asked the court to impose a temporary pause on TotalEnergies' new oil and gas projects, pending a full judgment on the substantive issues they were raising.

The court refused to consider the request for a temporary pause or the broader arguments, considering them legally inadmissible.

The coalition included a number of non-governmental organizations, as well as 15 French municipal authorities and the city of New York, according to court documents.

The court rejected their legal arguments, which cited a French law on the "duty of vigilance" regarding rights violations as the basis for their lawsuit.

The coalition said the decision was worrying.

"On the basis of questionable procedural issues, the examination of the substantive issues has once again been postponed, at a time when TotalEnergies continues to fail to take the necessary measures to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

In a statement, TotalEnergies took note of the court's decision and said it had "an ambitious strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with society".

Legal action against big oil companies has become one of the battlegrounds for climate change activism in recent years.

In a landmark ruling in 2021, a Dutch court ordered Shell to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels. Shell has appealed the decision. Reuteres