350.org campaigners in France and Africa today called for a permanent windfall tax on fossil fuel profits, as French oil giant TotalEnergies announced “indecent” first quarter profits, and new analysis by 350.org reveals that oil and gas price spikes have cost ordinary people and businesses in France over €2 billion (€1.97bn – €2.29 billion) [1] since the start of the Iran war.
Around thirty activists from 350.org, Action Justice Climat, Attac France, Greenpeace France and Extinction Rebellion unfurled a banner reading “TotalEnergies profits, we foot the bill” outside one of the multinational’s petrol stations in north-east Paris, as TotalEnergies published its first-quarter 2026 financial results this morning, amounting to US$5.4 billion.
The groups urged the French government to “show political courage” and introduce a tax on the excess profits of fossil fuel giants, whose revenues can be used to protect households in France from soaring energy bills and fund the transition to affordable clean energy.
Fanny Petitbon, France Country Manager at 350.org, said:
“While families watch their bills skyrocket, TotalEnergies posts some of its best financial results without even paying its fair share of taxes. We are witnessing an obscene transfer of wealth: the war enriches shareholders as it impoverishes citizens. This dependency is a political choice but the antidote exists. We demand that France stop yielding to oil lobbyists and introduce without delay a permanent and ambitious tax on fossil fuel profits. Every day of inaction is a deliberate political choice in favour of shareholders and against citizens.”
Campaigners say that while the EU’s crisis response package stopped short of including a windfall tax, France has upcoming opportunities to advance the measure, including a National Assembly deliberation in early June on a proposed law targeting the super-profits of oil and gas companies, and UN tax negotiations in August in New York.
350.org campaigners in East Africa also condemned TotalEnergies’ massive profits, which were made on the back of the suffering of communities displaced by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, one of the French oil giant’s major investments in the region that is set to begin operating this year.
Rukiya Khamis, 350.org East Africa Country Manager said:
“It is a staggering injustice that fossil fuel corporations are once again posting record-breaking profits while families struggle to keep the lights on. Right now, power is concentrated in the hands of those who thrive on crisis and scarcity. We need to put that power back where it belongs: with the people. It’s time to end our forced dependence on fossil fuels, tax the profiteers who benefit from our hardship, and redirect that wealth into building a fair, clean energy system. We aren’t just asking for a lower bill; we are demanding a system that values human dignity over corporate greed.”
350.org campaigners also pointed out the contradiction in France’s fossil fuel phase-out roadmap, published in time for the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia where more than 50 countries are presently gathered.
Clémence Dubois, 350.org Global Campaigns Manager said:
“France arrived in Santa Marta with a phase-out roadmap in one hand — and in the other, a quiet veto on making polluters pay for it. While Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria jointly called on the EU to tax the windfall profits of energy companies cashing in on the South West Asia war, France was absent. PM Lecornu is asking French households to carry the cost of the transition, while TotalEnergies posts war profits untaxed. A phase-out roadmap without a funding mechanism isn’t climate leadership. That gap is a political choice, not an oversight.”
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Notes to Editors:
[1] “The 350.org analysis calculates losses from price spikes using weighted oil and gas price averages since the start of the Iran war, combined with national consumption levels and adjustments for uncertainty, such as reduced demand in response to rising prices.
It does not yet include wider knock-on effects, such as rising fertiliser and food costs, declines in economic output and employment, or broader inflation driven by fossil fuel price volatility. As a result, the true economic damage is likely significantly higher than the losses from oil and gas prices alone.
Computation details:
Media Contact:
Hala Bounaidja-Rachedi, 350.org France Digital and Communications Campaign Officer, +33 6 24 03 95 73, [email protected]
Kim Bryan, 350.org Media Strategy and Relations Manager, [email protected], +447770881503