French riot police on Friday fired tear gas at a whole lot of climate activists making an attempt to stop the annual basic meeting of oil large TotalEnergies from happening.

Clashes broke out between protesters and the police shortly earlier than the beginning of the shareholder meeting, the place buyers are poised to vote on a decision calling on the corporate to align its climate targets with the landmark Paris Agreement and decide to absolute carbon emission cuts by 2030.

TotalEnergies has urged shareholders to vote in opposition to the decision, which was tabled by Follow This — a small Dutch activist investor with stakes in a number of Big Oil corporations.

Activists from marketing campaign teams together with 350.org, Friends of the Earth France and Scientists in Rebellion had pledged to attempt to cease the AGM from happening to denounce TotalEnergies’ fossil gasoline growth.

Protesters outside the Salle Pleyel venue in Paris could possibly be heard chanting “all we wish is to knock down Total” and “one, two, three levels, we’ve got Total to thank,” in line with the AFP information company.

It comes amid a way of palpable frustration amongst climate activists in the course of the proxy voting season, with demonstrations additionally happening at British oil majors BP and Shell in current weeks.

Shares of TotalEnergies traded barely increased on Friday morning. The inventory value is down roughly 6.3% year-to-date.