The Church of England is pressuring TotalEnergies over its decision not to sever ties with Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
The church’s investment funds announced they are reconsidering their stake in the French energy giant.
The two funds also urged the company to urgently review its decision.
TotalEnergies has condemned Russia’s aggression but has not followed BP and Shell in pulling out of Russia.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear what the Church of England Pensions Committee and Church Commissioners Investment Fund’s stake in TotalEnergies is. They did not respond to requests for comment.
In a joint letter to TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne, the Pensions Committee and the Church Commissioners for England noted that the company disagreed with the actions of many of its peers.
Last month the Church Pensions Committee and the Church Commissioners’ Fund threw up £20m worth of investments in Russian companies. They also banned all further investments in the country.
In a statement to The Times, the church said it took the step “in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine and in support of sanctions announced by Britain and other governments.”
The Church Commissioners manage a £9.2 billion investment fund, while the Pensions Committee oversees a £3.7 billion fund.
In February, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said Russia’s “horrific and unprovoked attack on Ukraine was an act of great evil.”
The church’s letter to TotalEnergies comes after two French NGOs – Greenpeace France and Les Amis de la Terre (Friends of the Earth) France – announced they would take legal action against the oil giant over possible human rights abuses unless it severed business ties with Russia.
Russia represented 24% of TotalEnergies’ reserves and 17% of its combined oil and gas production in 2020, company documents show.
Activist investor Clearway Capital has also written to the board of TotalEnergies, asking it to halt its operations in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
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