Church of England pressures TotalEnergies over Russia business

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby called Russia's attack on Ukraine "an act of great evil"

The Church of England is putting pressure on TotalEnergies over its decision not to cut business ties with Russia in the wake of its Ukraine invasion.

The church's investment funds said they would reconsider their shareholding in the French energy giant.

The two funds also called for the firm to urgently review its decision.

TotalEnergies has condemned Russia's aggression, but has not followed BP and Shell in withdrawing from Russia.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

It was not immediately clear how large a stake the Church of England's Pensions Board and the Church Commissioners investment fund hold in TotalEnergies. They did not respond to requests for comment.

In a joint letter to TotalEnergies chief executive, Patrick Pouyanne, the pension board and the Church Commissioners for England noted the company was at odds with the actions taken by many of its peers.

Last month, the church's pensions board and the Church Commissioners fund dumped £20m worth of investments in Russian businesses. They also banned any further investments in the country.

In a statement to The Times, the church said it made the move "in response to the attack on Ukraine by Russia and supporting the sanctions announced by the UK and other governments".

The Church Commissioners manage a £9.2bn investment fund while the pensions board oversees a fund worth £3.7bn.

In February, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said Russia's "horrific and unprovoked attack on Ukraine is 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 - said they planned to take legal action against the oil giant over possible human rights abuses unless it cuts its 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 exit its operations in Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.