Scuffles between police and climate protesters took place this Friday at dawn near the Salle Pleyel in Paris, where the general meeting of shareholders of TotalEnergie is to be held in the morning.

At dawn, dozens of climate protesters tried to enter the stretch of street passing in front of the Salle Pleyel in the beautiful Parisian neighborhoods. A dozen of them, who had sat in front of the entrance, were dislodged by the police and scuffles took place. Police used tear gas canisters to dislodge protesters. After three warnings in less than a minute by loudspeaker, the police threw tear gas in the middle of a group of climate activists.

A coalition of NGOs called for the meeting to be blocked and dozens of activists are now sitting at the entrances to Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, chanting "what we want is to overthrow Total" and "one, two and three degrees, it is Total that we must thank".

"Total's AGM will not take place"

The meeting comes at the end of a season of stormy AGMs, where activists have multiplied actions against large groups, such as competitors Shell and BP or the bank Barclays, accused of financing the expansion of hydrocarbon projects. In a sign of the expected tensions, TotalEnergies will ban shareholders and journalists from using their mobile phones, and will force them to leave certain personal belongings at the entrance.

Above all, the group wants to avoid the chaotic scenario of last year when NGO activists prevented shareholders from entering the AGM.

"Total's AGM will not take place," the signatories 350.org, Alternatiba, Friends of the Earth, ANV-COP21, Attac, Greenpeace, Scientists in Rebellion and XR immediately warned in a forum at the end of April. "This general assembly plans to perpetuate the strategy of the oil company: more fossil projects and an unfair distribution of superprofits that fuels climate and social injustice," they denounce.

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