Total withdraws from API

Jan. 15, 2021
Total will not renew its membership to the American Petroleum Institute (API) for 2021.

Total will not renew its membership to the American Petroleum Institute (API) for 2021.

The major said it assesses the main industry associations of which it is a member to ensure alignment with its climate positions, and following the 2019 and 2020 reviews, API's positions were assessed as “partially aligned” with those of Total.

The company said certain divergences remain:

  • regarding the role of natural gas, API maintains its support for the rollback of US regulation on methane emissions, which Total opposed in November 2019;
  • regarding transport decarbonization, API is part of the Transportation Fairness Alliance, which is opposed to subsidies for electric vehicles;
  • regarding the carbon pricing principle, API expresses differing positions to those of Total.

Moreover, API gave its support during the recent elections to candidates who argued against the United States’ participation in the Paris Agreement.

"The Group acknowledges the API's considerable contribution, for over a century, to the development of our industry. Nevertheless, as 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," said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and chief executive officer of Total.