Total partnership

Purpose

The Danish Institute for Human Rights (the Institute) had a partnership agreement with Total S.A. The aim of the partnership was to support Total in implementing their corporate commitment to respect human rights, at both corporate and site-level.

Total S.A. is one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, with a growing focus on solar energy. Total is currently present in more than 130 countries. Total cover the entire oil, gas and solar value chain from exploration over processing to power generation and distribution.

The difference we made

The Institute has assisted Total with:

• Advice on human rights due diligence
• Building internal capacity on human rights
• Advice on human rights in procurement
• Conducting human rights impact assessments and supporting integration of human rights in other processes, including Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) and ethics audits
• Providing country specific human rights risk analyses
• Building a knowledge base and network on human rights in the energy sector
• Linking Total’s activities to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Selected examples of our work

In 2016, the Institute assisted Total in restructuring their staff training programmes to include training on human rights. Furthermore, DIHR provided Total with country specific human rights analyses.

In 2017, the Institute carried out a human rights impact assessment for Total in Papua New Guinea. This impact assessment included site visits and stakeholder interviews, and resulted in a detailed report with recommendations for concrete actions to be taken.

Partners

• Total S.A.

In late March 2020 the Institute was made aware that Total in its Annual Report 2019 wrongfully indicated that the Danish Institute for Human Rights had conducted and published a report on Total’s oil pipeline activities in Tanzania and Uganda. Further, the Institute had not been consulted prior to the mention of the Institute in the Annual Report which is a breach of the Institute’s Corporate Engagement Principles. Total immediately acknowledge the mistake and the wrongful information has been rectified in a new version of the report.