Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good morning. We are delighted, Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette, Jean-Pierre Sbraire, and myself, as well as all the members of the board of directors present today at the first row of this assembly, to welcome you to the TotalEnergies assembly at the Salle Pleyel. We hope that this general assembly will be able to unfold in the best conditions, because it is a strong moment and expression of our dialogue with shareholders, and being with you is very important for us. As you have noticed, and we regret, we had to take exceptional measures today to call on police forces with a strict checking of the accesses because of the difficulties of people who want to upturn our committee and our assembly, and so we had to take the necessary measures.
Of course, I regret that this meeting must take place in such a situation. It should be a dialogue. I hope we will have these discussions. We had to adopt these exceptional measures. As before, we have implemented the necessary means to facilitate your remote participation. I'd like to say hello to all of the shareholders who are coming in presence and in person, and those who are remote. The shareholders who follow the assembly live cannot participate directly to the vote. They were able to do it upstream by letter or internet through the vote access platform. We thank them and encourage them to have requested the system.
To favor the shareholder dialogue and to better answer to your expectations, as in the previous years, the company has opened a platform on the internet website, where some of you have had the possibility to send questions that are not considered as written questions in terms of regulation, but can feed, eventually, the dialogue during this general assembly. We have received about 60 questions. As every year, I will answer to most of the questions that you have asked, with setting a priority to questions asked by shareholders who are in the room in person. I would like to inform you that bailiffs and journalists are also present and are assisting to the assembly. I would like to wish the welcome to all of you, shareholders, to all the people interested and following this assembly wherever you are. I declare the session open.
We're now going to proceed to the constitution of the Bureau of the Assembly, the FCP TotalEnergies Actionnariat France, represented by Mr. Olivier Foucher on my right side, and the Amundi company, represented by Madame Hélène Champollion-Morel, have accepted to be the scrutineers for this assembly. They have, according to the attendance sheet, the greater number of voices of shareholders present in the room. I thank them and declare the Bureau constituted. I would like to appoint, as Secretary of the Assembly, your financial Director, Jean-Pierre Sbraire, who is at my side. According to the presence sheet, there are 694 shareholders present who have expressed their vote. These shareholders compose 1,000,715,000 shares, and have right to vote 1,000,000,998 and 304 votes.
Double votes for some who are nominative and have been inscribed, subscribed for two years at least. We have the number. The quorum is reached for this general assembly, ordinary and extraordinary. I declare it legally constituted. I'd like to mention that the documents that attest of this, that it is duly presented, they are on, by my side, next to Jean-Pierre Sbraire, and all the documents have been made available to all shareholders and given to those who asked for it previously. I'd like to remind you that the general assembly is together to answer to the agenda mentioned on page four of the convening notice. The report as, in these conditions, I would like not to proceed to their reading in extenso.
We are now going to present you with, before engaging the discussion, the different topics we would like to present to you. Jean-Pierre Sbraire is going to present you the financial results for financial year 2022 and beginning of 2023. They testify for our the relevance of our strategic choices operated by the board of directors and our multi-energy model. We'll come back to it. Our auditors will present you with the different reports established in the framework of this assembly and during a pre-recorded session. Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette, your referent director, will then tell you about the governance of your company.
She will give account of the main works done by the committee and all of the members, the directors, and will present you the different members for the renewal of your vote and nominations submitted to your vote. Jacques Aschenbroich will be the successor to Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette in the, as director, senior director and referent during this assembly, and will have this function in 2023. Mark Cutifani will present the remuneration details. This sequence is also pre-recorded. Mark, being an English speaker, we were able to add subtitles for his intervention. I will follow up by strategic point, the strategy of the company, the commitment for climate and sharing value, and the outlooks of our for our company. This is it.
Before giving the floor now to Jean-Pierre Sbraire, your Financial Director, you know that security is one of the values of the group, and I suggest to begin this general assembly with a film on security and the usage of drones in industrial landscapes. My current mission is to carry out analysis with AUSEA drones. For each drone flight, whether in an industrial site or elsewhere, there is always a risk analysis to carry out. We are in an industrial site presently, and there are things that are forbidden, such as flying over the facilities. For such a mission as today, there are very important rules to respect. You always need to keep your drone in sight. You need to secure all of the area, maximum height of 120 meters, and if all conditions are united, you can perform the flight with the drone.
Security is for me, for you, for everyone. Jean-Pierre?
Hello, everyone. The year 2022 was marked by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia with in February 2022, with serious consequences on the markets and energy market, especially. This crisis, namely, has reset priorities and the necessity to ensure energy security for countries, and has highlighted the structural dependence of Europe vis-à-vis imports of gas from Russia, and it generated very high tensions on oil, gas prices, and energy prices. In this context, the markets are constrained by the offer. The company has established a new record in terms of results of generating cash flow, and I will show you, we have been able to take advantage fully of our portfolio and our global...
It's integrated globally, and also the evolution of the markets and that of the LNG market, especially. The environment in 2022 for energies was all planets were aligned in the energy sector, after the invasion of Ukraine and Russia and its consequences. The prices have gone up to $100 per bbl, increasing this strong increase noticed during the first quarter of 2021 due to a lack of high investments in hydrocarbons. The prices have maintained at these very high levels in all of the 2022 year, namely supported by decisions in OPEC countries and the anticipation of the implementation of European sanctions on Russian oil, sanctions that were implemented finally at the end of 2022.
The refining margins vary generally, conversely to the petrol share, to the price of oil and the world global economy. In 2022, it wasn't the case. Why? Because we had massive disruptions of the supply chain, especially with the distillates, due to the sanctions against Russia and embargoes, European embargoes on crude and oil products. This has led to historical levels in 2022. It was the same thing for gas and especially for LNG. As you know, with a production that is domestic, that is limited in gas in Europe had to compensate on the reduction of important volumes with these gasoducts, from these pipelines, and doubling its imports of LNG in 2022.
Thus, 10% for call, for on the market, the global markets on GNL, this contributed to skyrocket prices at levels never reached until then. The prices of electricity have evolved in the same way. They also were strongly impacted because the marginal offer for electricity set on deregulated markets is often generated by plants, flexible plants that are based on gas. Let's come to the results. These oil and gas prices, these refining, high refining margins, have created a very favorable environment for TotalEnergies in 2022. The company also benefited, thanks to its unique position in Europe, to the high sales in LNG, more than 15% in, over 15% in 2022. 2022 was a record year for TotalEnergies, with a net adjusted result of $36.2 million.
Taking into account the $15 million of depreciation and exceptional provisions we recorded in 2022 on Russia, the net IFRS result of your company established at $20.5 million. The profitability of own capitals reached 30.2%, and those of employed capitals averaged 28%, showing that the portfolio of the company and its ability to benefit from these increased prices and a favorable environment. The cash flows generated by our operation, so crude margin for ODA financing. On the side of these record benefits, TotalEnergies generated $46 million of self-financing in 2022. You see the different segments on the left side of this graph. All of the segments, all of these have recorded a growth in terms of contribution, assets, and self-financing. Exploration & Production brought in $25 million.
It's a 39% increase compared to 2021, thanks to the increase of crude and gas that I mentioned before. Downstream contributed with $10 million, a contribution of the refining and chemistry with more than $8 million. It's 2.5 x the contribution we had in 2021, thanks to a use rate of refineries at 82%, which helps us benefit fully of the very high margins I mentioned before. The Integrated LNG has contributed at a record level, $10 million, Integrated Power, renewable energies, $1 million. I'll come back to this in the presentation. I'll come back to the two sectors that are growing for our company.
On the left side, you can see how this cash flow that was generated in 2022 was spread between shareholders and distributed to finance also investments and reduce our debt. Let's start with the investments in blue. You see that in 2022, we allocated for this cash flow $16.3 million for net investments. I'll come back to it on the next slide. $14.5 million allocated to the reduction of our debt. This helped us to reduce our debt ratio. It was at 15% in 2021, and at the end of 2022, it's at 7%. Finally, $17 million have been allocated to returns to shareholders. This is all the payout, you can see on all of the squares in the right-hand column.
We have $7.2 that was given back to shareholders as ordinary dividends, $2.7 in exceptional dividends, these that we paid out in December, and $7 million for repurchases of buybacks of shares. If we bring it together, over 2022, we have a payout of 37.2%, therefore, in line with the engagements we took and commitments between 35% and 40% of cash flow returned to our shareholders. Investments. In 2022, they were up at $16.3 million. It's all of our organic net acquisitions, disposals. It's what we indicated to the markets in February 2022. At the time, we gave a scale between $14 million and $15 million. Why?
We decided last year to act in a proactive manner in light of the balance sheet that I presented to you, and taking advantage of all the opportunities that the markets offered us. These opportunities, of course, created value. We ramped up our projects with short cycles. It was the case in Western Africa. It was also the case in the North Sea to benefit of the favorable environment of 2023 and 2024. We also grasped certain opportunities for acquisitions in Brazil, in oil, offshore Brazil, but also in integrated power renewables in the United States with the acquisition of Clearways. It is important to note, in 2022, that the inflation didn't have a significant impact on the increase of investments. Why? Finally, we kept very strict criteria in order to sanction our projects.
On the right side, you can see the detail of the investments in 2022 per activity. I will note simply the $4 million, 25% of investments by the company allocated to Integrated Power, renewable electricity, well, and low-carbon energy. A focus on the two growing activities: Integrated LNG and Integrated Power. In the Integrated LNG and LNG, for negotiations in gas, biogas, activities in hydrogen, but also gas negotiations. Well, gas trade. For Integrated Power, it covers generation activities, storage, trade in power, distribution, B2C, B2B in gas and power. For Integrated LNG, I said it in my introduction, sales of LNG increased by 15% in 2022.
These sales have reached 48 million tons for during the entire year. Thanks to our leader position in regasification in Europe, this enabled us to increase our spot volumes in this context with record demands in LNG in Europe. The company was able to take advantage fully of its global e- LNG integrated portfolio. The net adjusted result of Integrated LNG, you can see it on the slide, has overgone $11 million. We were before $10 million. We doubled compared to the previous year. The margin is at $10 million, so it's better than what we recorded in 2022. Let's now move to Integrated Power.
An important metrics to remember, Integrated Power in 2022 generated a net adjusted result and an FFO of $10 million. This million is important because it's a new sector for the company. These results have been pulled by power production of 17 TW. It's an increase, this increase was reached thanks to a use rate of the CCGTs in Europe, in the context described previously, higher than in 2021, by an increase of 53% of the electricity production that comes from our portfolio of renewables. Our portfolio, at the end of 2022, we had 17 GW of renewable installed capacity.
An important comment: in order to give a better clarity to the understanding of our growth strategy for LNG and renewables and power, we decided during the first quarter in 2023 to publish the results for these two sectors separately, Integrated LNG on one side and Integrated Power on the other. Previously, these two sectors were grouped in one Integrated GRP. 2022. Clearly, the company has started a new era. You know well that we evolve in a market that's cyclic, according to the availabilities. The evolution of the brand has been shown on the left in the gray curve on the graph. 2022, the price of... was $101 per bbl.
This was what we had known in the past, in particular in 2008, we had a price that was slightly less than $100 per bbl, and in 2011, 2012, we had about $110 per bbl. The big difference between TotalEnergies yesterday and TotalEnergies today is that back in the day, with this price of about $100 per bbl, we were only generating less than $30 billion in cash flow. Today, I was saying it today, we have generated $46 billion. Of course, we've been supported and helped by the positive effect of the gas price. Back in the today, we had a different...
This is what we will see here also in orange on the left, this effect in favor with the price gas compared to the reference years, we're about $100 per bbl, today we can say we can generate 40% additional cash flow. Where does this performance come from? This is what's been shown in the middle of the slide. This is the managing of our debt point. We divided it by four between 2014 and 2015, the current situation in 2022. Back in the day, we were at $100 per bbl, now we are at $25. What is this break-even? What is this dead point?
Well, it's about the rotation of our portfolio, the selectivity, the discipline of our investments, in particular for oil and gas at low cost and low emissions, the management of our operating costs. These are the elements that have allowed us to reduce and divide by four this amount. Finally, this is on the right. Our financial situation has never been as solid, with the generation of cash flow of $46 billion. I was telling you earlier, we have allocated $16 billion for lowering the debt, and we have divided by 2 the debt of the company. We were at $24 billion of net debt, end of 2021, and today we are at $9 billion net debt, end of 2022. Our ratio will be of about 7% at the end of the year, 2022.
TotalEnergies today is a very profitable company, more efficient than in the past. It is a largely out of debt. The situation of the company makes it more stronger, more resilient to maintain a generation of cash. This is, of course, also a proof of security for future dividends. This also gives us flexibility in order to implement the transition and our strategy. I will conclude here the presentation on the results of 2022 by comparing the performance of TotalEnergies with other majors, such as Shell, BP, Chevron, and Exxon. You can see here on the left, TotalEnergies has had the strongest growth in cash flow per share in 2022 compared to 2021, with a net cash flow by share of $13.
TotalEnergies has also had the best advantage with its majors, with an interest share of 28%. We also had with our European peers, in terms of return to the shareholders over three years, this is linked also to the decisions of the board of directors to maintain the dividends through the Covid crisis in 2021. Finally, for ESG, environmental, social, and governance, you also see that TotalEnergies has reached the best mark for by in the ranking for Sustainalytics compared to our majors. To summarize, I'd say 2022 has been a historical year for TotalEnergies.
We've been able to show again how relevant our model is, that it combines the excellence of our tasks around oil and gas, with investments that are resolved and confident towards a new decarbonated energy, with a power business, which is integrated and for the production of renewables. Thank you very much.
... Merci, Jean-Pierre.
Thank you, Jean-Pierre, for these results. Indeed, it's an historic result, and the company is coming out better than ever before. I now give the floor to Mr. Olivier Lotz from the PricewaterhouseCoopers office, who will, in the name of the college, establish the accounts in the name of our auditors.
Mesdames, Messieurs les actionnaires, bonjour. Au nom du Collège des commissaires aux comptes, EY and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good morning. On behalf of the College of the auditors and accountants, EY and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Nos rapports ont été mis à votre disposition par la compagnie et sont rappelés à l'écran. Il s'agit des rapports sur les comptes annuels et consolidés de l'exercice, du rapport spécial sur les conventions réglementées et, enfin, des rapports sur les opérations potentielles proposées sur le capital. Je vous propose, conformément à l'usage de cette assemblée, de vous résumer les termes de nos rapports. Tout d'abord, nos rapports sur les comptes annuels et consolidés, étant rappelé que notre approche d'audit et nos diligences ont pris en compte les spécificités des métiers de notre compagnie, et que nos travaux ont pour objet, conformément à nos normes professionnelles, d'obtenir une assurance raisonnable que ces comptes ne comportent pas d'anomalies significatives.
Au titre de la Résolution 1, notre rapport sur les comptes annuels de votre société, qui sont préparés selon les principes comptables français et présentés en pages 592 à 595 du document d'enregistrement universel, nous avons certifié ces comptes sans réserve. Nous avons exposé dans notre rapport les pointés d'audit relatifs à l'évaluation des titres de participation et des créances rattachées. Nous n'avons par ailleurs émis aucune observation sur le rapport de gestion et le rapport du conseil d'administration sur le gouvernement d'entreprise. Au titre de la Résolution 2, en ce qui concerne notre rapport sur les comptes consolidés, préparés selon le référentiel IFRS, tel qu'adopté par l'Union européenne, et présenté en pages 408 à 413 du document d'enregistrement universel, nous avons certifié ces comptes sans réserve.
Notre approche d'audit a pris en compte les spécificités des métiers de votre compagnie en matière d'activités, d'organisation, de règles comptables et des dispositifs de contrôle interne. Le comité d'audit et le conseil d'administration ont été régulièrement tenus informés de l'avancement et des résultats de nos travaux. Nous avons présenté dans notre rapport three pointés d'audit: l'incidence des changements climatiques et la transition énergétique sur les états financiers, l'évaluation de la dépréciation des actifs non courants, des activités d'exploration et de production des secteurs EP et IGRP, enfin, l'incidence de l'estimation des réserves prouvées et prouvées développées sur le amortissement des actifs pétroliers et gaziers en production de ces mêmes secteurs EP et IGRP.
Au titre de la Resolution 5, notre rapport spécial sur les conventions réglementées, qui se trouve page 272 du document d'enregistrement universel, et nous n'a été donné avis d'aucune nouvelle convention au cours de l'exercice 2022. La convention de mise à disposition de locaux à titre gratuit auprès de la Fondation Alliance pour l'Éducation Light the Way, qui avait déjà fait l'objet d'une approbation au cours de l'exercice antérieur, s'est poursuivie sur l'exercice 2022. Nous avons émis des rapports sur les opérations de capital. Nous n'avons pas formulé d'observations sur le mode d'appel des principes, les informations données dans le rapport du conseil d'administration. Lors de l'usage de ces diverses autorisations, nous pourrons être amenés à établir, le cas échéant, des rapports complémentaires permettant la finalisation de ces opérations de capital menées par notre conseil d'administration. Voilà.
Mesdames et Messieurs les actionnaires, ainsi résumés nos différents rapports concernant l'exercice 2022. Je vous remercie de votre attention.
Bien, vous avez vu que.
You can see that we have a convention on the association, and I am the president of it, and this is why it has been presented in this report. It's an association that aims at supporting 15,000 young people in difficult neighborhoods and orientating them professionally, putting them into contact with the professionals of various companies. Now we will continue talk about governance with Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette. During the last assembly, I also gave her the floor. She will now not be our referent director anymore because she's also being re-elected. She's going to talk about it herself, but I'd like to mention it to you first. She will therefore end her status as an independent, and this is how we've done it in the board of director previously, in the committee as well.
She's been the referent Director, we propose that the senior Director remains for another mandate, allowing more continuity for our company. Marie-Christine, I now give you the floor for the governance.
Thank you very much also to have introduced this subject. It's always delicate to talk about yourself. I'm very delighted to be able to talk in front of you today, here in the Salle Pleyel, with so many people, more than last year. You have to know that your administrators are all present today, as always. When our company is present during these key moments. It's with a certain emotion and a great pleasure that I'm going to present to you the actions of the Board of Directors, which have guided the good governance of your company during the year 2022.
This is indeed emotional because your president has just said it's the last time that I will be speaking in front of you as a senior director. After 12 years at the board, I will no longer have the status of independent director. Jacques Aschenbroich will be taking over as a lead director, senior director of this general assembly. He will be presenting later his vision of his mission within the framework of his new responsibilities. I would like to start my report by looking at the activity of your board of directors in 2022. Your board and its four specialized committees, the audit, governance, ethics, compensation, strategy, and social responsibility committees, were particularly mobilized and committed in 2022. They were committed in supporting the transformation of TotalEnergies into a multi-energy company.
Your board of directors thus met 9 x during the year, and the committees have held 18 working sessions. More importantly, you can see it also on this slide, they have had 98% of attendance rate in average, which is quite remarkable. This also highlights, again this year, the strong involvement in the company's works. As every year, we also have held a meeting of non-executive, salaried directors, which I chaired as a senior director. During this meeting, we discussed the work and operations of your board of directors. We were particularly pleased with the relationship of trust established between your chairman and CEO. Your trust is nourished by the listening and taking into account of the various suggestions and questionings coming from your directors.
It's also a trust that is being fed by the transparency and the quality of the subjects that are being presented and debated upon. Let's come to the composition of the board of directors. TotalEnergies can count on a board of directors endowed with a plurality of professional skills and expertise, this is the case, and it will be still, thanks to the varied profiles of the 14 directors that compose it. At the end of this meeting, subject to your approval of the resolutions that we approved, your board will be composed of six women and eight men. For the first time in the history of the company, it will have an international majority, since seven nationalities will be represented within it. It is, again, here, quite remarkable.
This wide diversity of nationalities, cultures, will enable TotalEnergies to strengthen, again, the match between the composition of the board and the geographical exposure of the company's activities, as well as the variety of points at stake to which it is exposed. For more than two-thirds of your directors, we have an expertise in the administration of large international companies. For a large majority of them, they have also recognized skills in the energy and industry sectors, and they also have an experience, a significant experience, in the areas of governance and risk management. Finally, several of them have experiences in the field of sustainable development and climate. Moreover, the implementation of the transformation strategy to which your company is committed requires also a certain continuity in its governance, because let's not forget, energy takes a long time.
This is why, this year, the mandate of Mark Cutifani and mine are proposed to your vote for a new mandate of three years. Furthermore, the board of directors has decided to propose to the general meeting, the appointment of two new independent directors, who are Mr. Dierk Paskert and Madame Anelise Lara, who are present here for a mandate of three years. I've had the pleasure and opportunity to meet them and audition them as part of the selection process. Their profiles, they will be presenting themselves to you in a video message that will be shown after my intervention. Their profiles will follow the transformation of the company, and this is what the board wanted. This is how. I apologize, Dierk Paskert.
We will therefore be able to find an additional director with experience in electricity, power, and renewables, and this is why we now propose them to be elected. Dierk is of national German nationality, and he's been CEO of Encavis AG, a listed company producing renewable electricity, and who held several positions in E.ON, a large German utility company. He has a great experience in the electricity and renewable business, which will contribute to the board's support for the development of its electricity and renewable business. I now go over to Madame Anelise Lara, Brazilian nationality, who has an extensive experience in the oil and gas sector, as well as gas and power. She will be usefully complementing the various skills present within the board.
Her knowledge of Brazil is also very important to us, given the importance of capitals committed by the company in this country, both in terms of hydrocarbons and renewable energies. She's also committed to diversity by helping young women move forward in their careers. Welcome to you. Mr. Paskert and Madame Lara will be introducing themselves in a video very soon. That it is for the new members proposed to the election. Now, in the name of the board of directors, I would like to thank those whose mandate will not be renewed. In particular, Patricia Barbizet, former lead director, for her exceptional contribution to the work of the board and its committees over the past 15 years.
We also would like to thank Jérôme Contamine, who gave to the board and audit committee the benefit of his in-depth knowledge of financial matters and his expertise in the oil and gas sector. This is not a tradition, I think we should give them an applause. Thank you to each and every one of you. Let's now move on to the work carried out by your board since the last general assembly. It started with the beginning of the year, it was dedicated to the accompaniment of the conduct to be followed in connection with the activities of the company in Russia, in the terrible context which constitutes the military aggression against Ukraine.
I would like here to salute the speed and the relevance of the decisions of your general management, which have enabled the company to stay the course in the short term while pursuing its long-term strategy. This process of support with Russia, which gave lead to quick decisions, of course, continued throughout the year, as you can see on this slide. During the year, the board reviewed the company's major investments and divestments. Thus, I will cite just a few because they are quite numerous. The entry into the giant North Field gas field extension in Qatar, enabling the company to strengthen its global LNG portfolio and to contribute to Europe's energy security in the context of Ukraine. The second investment, a very important one, the acquisition of a stake in Casa dos Ventos, first renewable developer in renewables in Brazil.
In another field, the final investment decision for the construction of a world-class petrochemical site in Saudi Arabia. As you can see on the right side of this slide, as we had committed to in 2022, the board analyzed, studied, and adopted the Sustainability & Climate – 2023 Progress Report on the progress made by the company in implementing its ambition in terms of sustainable development and energy transition towards sustainability and carbon neutrality, which is submitted for your consultation today via the vote on Resolution 14. The other aspect of a role of a senior director is having a dialogue with shareholders. Every year, this is a high point of the lead director's duties. I had the opportunity to discuss with shareholders more than 20.
holding more than 20% of the capital on the governance of the company, gather their expectations, and answer to their questions. From these meetings, I retained four main themes that you can see in the different colors on the slide. They were the purpose, the object of intense sessions with a lot of transparency. The first concerns the board itself, its composition, its operation, and its work related to the compensation policy for your Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In this context of the renewal or new appointment, there were different suggestions that especially was of interest to them. These are essential to and guarantee a good governance and a good balance of powers in our company. Second big element of for our discussions, climate and environment, which are essential themes of the company's commitment and engagement.
Finally, the shareholders I met also wanted to know my point of view as a senior director on the investments decided by your board. Ultimately, all the questions were addressed, and in particular, around projects that may have given rise to certain controversies, such as our project in Uganda. As a conclusion, this is what I wanted to add to ensure that your board remains resolutely committed to supporting the company in its transformation over the coming years. I would like to add, to support the remarkable action of its President and CEO.
At the end of this mandate, before giving the floor to our president, I would like to add something personal and say how much after 12 years of mandate at the heart of TotalEnergies Board, I would like to share sincerely and authentically one comment on the excellency of TotalEnergies and its management of challenges around energy, its challenges concerning the energy transition with a strong determination, clairvoyance, and a strength that really forces my admiration and respect, and I hope yours as well. This is why I would like to congratulate all the shareholders, investors who are present for their trust given to TotalEnergies, and I think it is well-deserved. I thank you for your attention, sorry for this very personal message.
Thank you, Marie-Christine.
Your personal message translates your commitment alongside our company and for 12 years at my side. I'd like to thank you since Patricia Barbizet is going to leave us. She has inaugurated the position as a lead director or senior director, and I would like to thank you, Patricia, as well, for having supported us and continue to send pieces of advice at times, as I solicited Marie-Christine as well. These are positions that are very important, and even more so because we have really important advisors as Jean-Pierre and all of the board members that help in the functioning of this company. Thank you. We'll welcome Jacques and listen to his the video presentation by Dierk Paskert, who is at the front row, and Ms. Lara, who I'd like to honor, and then Jacques will come on stage to tell me how he sees his role as a senior director. Let's move on to this next session.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear TotalEnergies shareholders, I would like to introduce myself, but please excuse myself for doing it in English.
I'm German. Until end of 2022, I was member of the board and CEO of Encavis, an independent power producer from renewable energy sources. I'm committed to advancing the field of renewable energy by empowering corporates and private individuals to make net zero come true without, and that is of paramount importance, compromising on economic prosperity and financial solidity. I believe that we should be using nature's inexhaustible sources of energy in a different way compared to the past. I did spend the vast majority of my working life in European power and gas markets, conventional as well as the renewable ones. My personal contribution to the journey of TotalEnergies will be very much focused on bridging the gap between belief, action, and reality. Bold strategic moves, whilst carefully assessing the risk of ever-volatile energy markets, is part of my professional DNA.
I will be supportive of finding the right direction by applying an integrated business model, and I will have my critical points with regard to right timing and or financial impact. Why did I accept the invitation of the board of TotalEnergies to put my candidature forward? From my point of view, TotalEnergies is best placed among the majors to successfully manage the change needed to make net zero come true, because it is 100% committed, and management, as well as workforce, does not compromise on the direction taken. If elected, I look forward to serving on TotalEnergies board of directors. I thank you for your trust.
Ladies and gentlemen, hello. My name is Anelise Lara, and I'm from Brazil. I have 37 years of experience in the energy sector. I am a chemist and engineer, and I also have a PhD in earth sciences by Pierre and Marie Curie in France. I'm also certified in pro ESG programs, competent boards, including for risk linked to climate change. I have worked for 35 years at Petrobras, the greatest energy company in Latin America. During this time, I had the opportunity to work in different activities and positions as a manager. I started my career in technological research and, since, exploration and production, where I was responsible for several development projects and production.
I was invited to be part of the board of directors at Petrobras as general director in refinery, gas, and energy. Since 2021, I have left Petrobras, and I started to serve as a board member for companies in Brazil and abroad. I also work in favor of diversity by helping young women to advance their careers. I will be honored to be part of the board of directors of TotalEnergies in order to help the company in order to become a multi-energy company and a major actor in the energy transition, with the dual challenge, to satisfy in energy, or needs, with a growing population by emitting less emissions and paying attention to global change. Thank you very much.
Before giving the floor to Jacques Aschenbroich, I'd like to say a word to say that the two candidates that the board chose really represent the two voices for our strategy. One in electricity renewables, and the other having the experience of hydrocarbons, and both in countries that are very important for us, whether Germany in the future today, and Brazil as well.
Thank you for your speeches, and I hope that the shareholders will support the board's choice. Jacques Aschenbroich, will talk about his position as a senior director. Dear shareholders, hello. In 2021, you were kind enough to show your confidence in me by appointing me an director of your company. I would like to thank you once again for it.
Today, I'm very honored to succeed Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette as Senior Independent Director of TotalEnergies. First of all, I would like to congratulate her and on my behalf and for all the directors, for the exemplary manner in which she has exercised this role of Lead Director for three years, and sincerely thank Patrick Pouyanné and the members of the board for entrusting me with this new responsibility. I would now like to share with you my missions as future Senior Director, mission that I would like to undertake to fulfill with enthusiasm and determination.
Since 2015, at the initiative of Patrick Pouyanné, the internal regulations of the board for the appointment of a senior director in the event of a combination of the functions of Chairman of the Board and director of a CEO, as it is the case in your company, in order to ensure a balance of power within it. In terms of governance, my role will be to ensure the proper functioning of governance within the board. As such, I will have the privilege of chairing the Governance and Ethics Committee, after having been a member of it, as since May 25th, 2022. As part of my new duties, I will also chair an annual meeting, which brings together external directors, as Marie-Christine said.
That is to say, those who do not hold executive or salaried positions within the company, without the presence of the CEO. It allows external directors to review the functioning of the board. I will also lead the process of assessing the functioning of the board of directors on an annual basis. I would like to remind you that the senior director can request that the board be convened on a specific agenda, and that he or she is their preferred contact for the prevention of conflicts of interest. In liaison with the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, I will take part in dialogue with shareholders, in particular on matters of corporate governance, as Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette had the opportunity to illustrate in her speech.
In conclusion, the senior director is the privileged interlocutor spokesperson with the board, with the CEO, both on major matters relating to the company's business and, of course, on the preparation of the board meetings. I thank you for your trust and your attention.
Thank you, Jacques. Thank you very much for accepting this mission. We will have the opportunity to work together because the rule says I need to meet you every month to take a look at our business. Thank you for accepting the mission. I will now come to Mark Cutifani's presentation on the remuneration and the CEO. It's a recorded video, but Mark is here with us as well. You will have a simultaneous translation on screen. Thank you.
Good day to all shareholders. My name is Mark Cutifani, and I have the honor of chairing the Compensation Committee, working alongside Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette, Jacques Aschenbroich, and Angèle Préville as the employer representative. Today, on behalf of the board of directors, I'm very pleased to present the company's 2022 compensation policies and the 2023 compensation policy for your board and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. As I wrote you in a letter published in our universal registration document, the Compensation Committee met three times during the year and reviewed market developments and the company performance to assess whether current practices remain appropriately competitive, and with a sufficient focus on strengthening the link between pay and performance. Regarding the compensation of your directors, two resolutions are submitted for your approval.
Resolution number 10, on the left-hand side of the screen, concerns the approval of information relating to the 2022 compensation for directors. This amount is set for each director on the basis of his or her actual attendance at each board or committee meeting. The maximum annual compensation package was set by the shareholders meeting in 2020 at EUR 1.75 million. The cap of EUR 1.75 million has been exceeded during fiscal year 2022 due to the large number of meetings and the high attendance rates of directors, which led to a reduction in the individual compensation of around 4.4%. Therefore, the global amount of 2022 compensation paid to directors was limited at the cap of EUR 1.75 million.
The Resolution number 11, on the right-hand side of the screen, submits for your approval the 2023 compensation policy for the directors. In addition to reduction for individual compensation that took place in 2022, the increase in the number of non-French directors, and that's changed from five to seven, which is proposed to you under Resolutions number eight and nine, will result in an increase in travel fees, which are considered in the overall cap for the directors' compensation. The current average annual compensation of directors is at the top of compensation for listed companies under French law, but is lower than that of directors of other CAC 40 companies, such as Airbus, ArcelorMittal, and Stellantis, while the size and results of TotalEnergies can be reasonably compared to each.
Given these various elements, the board of directors has decided to propose to you an increase in the annual compensation package for directors from EUR 1.75 million- EUR 1.95 million. That is an increase of 11% compared to the current amount. Such amount would be reviewed every two to three years, depending on inflation or other matters that may occur from time to time. Let's turn to the 2022 compensation for your Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, which is composed of fixed compensation, variable compensation, and performance shares. In 2022, the fixed compensation component amounted to EUR 1.55 million, as supported in the last shareholders meeting. The variable compensation, which the payment is conditional to the approval of Resolution 12, amounted to EUR 2,731,875.
That is 176.25% of the annual fixed compensation out of a maximum of 180%, awarded after strict compliance of the results of the economic parameters and the evaluation of the CEO's personal contribution. Please note that such a high level of variable pay also reflects the exceptional level of performance achieved by your company under the leadership of Patrick Pouyanné. The board believes these results reflect his strong company leadership. Finally, 100,000 performance shares have been granted to the CEO, subject to performance conditions. The final number of shares granted will depend on TotalEnergies' share performance and the annual change in net cash flow per share compared to its main competitors, the organic break-even point before dividends, and the evolution in greenhouse gas emissions from TotalEnergies-operated oil and gas facilities.
The final allocation of these shares will only take place in 2025. As a result of these decisions, the 2022 compensation of the Chairman and CEO of your company increased by 10% compared to the 2021 compensation, that's managed at constant share prices. Coming to the 2023 compensation policy for the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, which is set out in Resolution number 13, submitted for your approval. This compensation policy has been, as every year, reviewed and compared with that of his peers and with market practice. The results of this detailed analysis, which is included further in this document, reinforced the Board of Directors' conviction that the proposed compensation components and structure for 2023 are at the appropriate level.
The Compensation Committee has therefore recommended to the board of directors it maintains the compensation policy for the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, as approved by the shareholders meeting on May 28, 2021. The base salary remains unchanged compared to 2022 at EUR 1.55 million. The number of performance shares attributed to the Chairman and the CEO in 2023 is 110,000, following the decision approved by the shareholders meeting, of gradually increasing the attribution in the period of 2021 and 2023 to better align the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer's compensation with the market and the company shareholders. Regarding the variable annual compensation, based on his review and feedback, the Compensation Committee recommended to the board of directors to make the following changes to the compensation policy....
First, we changed the structure of the variable annual compensation, which was allowing to compensate for outperformance on quantitative financial criteria. The feedback received from our shareholders and proxy advisors was such that the structure was supporting an incrementally more positive compensation effect between financial criteria in the event of exceptional performance. Although such performance compensation additions between the criteria did not occur and had no impact on 2021 and 2022 compensation, as all financial criteria had almost reached the maximum, thanks to the exceptional results of your company. The Compensation Committee recommended to the Board of Directors to remove the outperformance mechanism to prevent any potential additions to compensation that may not be intended.
Following the very strong improvement of the company's balance sheet, the committee also recommended the replacement of the gearing ratio criteria by a new criterion, underlying cash flow growth, corresponding to the variation in cash flow from operations, or CFFO, excluding market prices effect. This criteria is a key metric to measure the profitable growth of the company. It is central in the financial communication of the company to investors, as it underpins the growth of the ordinary dividend, since it measures the growth in cash generated by the company year-on-year, and that excludes the effect of market prices. That is the underlying cash flow growth. Lastly, in terms of policy changes, we introduced a clawback mechanism in the variable compensation of the company executive officers without waiting for the recently adopted Securities and Exchange Commission rule to take effect.
Based on shareholders' feedback, as well as the review of the market practices, the Compensation Committee recommended to the board to review the stock ownership policy and increase our Chairman and Chief Executive Officers, as well as Executive Committee stock ownership requirement from two years to five years for the Chairman and Chief Executive Officers, and four years for the Executive Committee. This enhanced holding requirement will be in addition to the current requirement for the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer to retain 50% of the shares from performance share plans until the end of his term. We strongly believe that this best-in-class policy will contribute to further align our executive compensation and shareholder interests in creating long-term value.
On behalf of the Compensation Committee, I would like to thank you for your feedback and support, which we will continue to seek in our regular reviews and improvements of our compensation policies to make sure that they are aligned with the interests of our shareholders, and of course, we will always seek to fully meet all legal requirements. Thank you for your time and your attention.
Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, it's again a great pleasure to meet you today in the Pleyel room. First of all, I'd like to thank the 500 shareholders who are present here today in the meeting room and who've been brave enough to join us. I hope that you are happy. I'm very glad that you're here, because I particularly want to have this dialogue with shareholders, because it's the heart of our company. I also would like to greet all those who are following us today on our website. I'd like, again, to say how much of a regret it is to have these conditions in place, that we've had to implement measures for security. I am deeply sorry for this, and I think the respect of the other, whatever their opinion, is always a value of our company.
I would like to share it with all our shareholders. This year, again, we've had the opportunity to share our expectations and questions ahead of the general meeting by setting up a platform on our website from the fifth to the nineteenth of May. This is a site where you were able to ask your questions, and we'll be able to use them during this session at the end. First of all, the priority will be given to the dialogue with people present in the room. I'd also like to take this opportunity to salute the 1.5 million non-employee individual shareholders that we were able to count in Europe and the U.S. in 2022. They have been increased and are now 13.6% of the capital.
Together with these employees, it's therefore more than 20% of the capital of TotalEnergies, which is being held by natural persons. This is quite remarkable because it's also a guarantee of stability of our shareholding. Firstly, as it is a tradition in our general assembly, I'd like to come back to the year 2022, which has been an exceptional year in several aspects, in particular from a geopolitical point of view, and also because of the upheavals caused by the war in Ukraine and the impacts on the energy prices. A year that I would describe paradoxical for TotalEnergies, as well as for our society's debates. 2022 has been marked economically by a sharp rise in oil prices...
over $100 per bbl, and also reaching prices for gas and LNG that have never been reached before. These phenomena were the direct consequence of the Ukrainian crisis, which amplified an upward trend, which has already been taken, implemented in 2022, due in particular to recurring underinvestment in oil production, combined with a demand for oil and gas that has returned pre- to pre-COVID levels. In this exceptional and highly volatile price environment, our company has demonstrated the relevance of its multi-energy strategy by being the most profitable major, but also the one who has invested the most into new renewable energies. This is the first point on which I'd like to dwell.
Among the fast five majors, TotalEnergies has indeed been the most profitable company in 2022, with a return on capital employed of over 28%, demonstrating the financial solidity of its business model. This remarkable performance is no coincidence, and it was achieved even though your company has been engaged since 2020 in a strategy to transform its business model. We fully assume the multi-energy strategy, symbolized by our transition from Total to TotalEnergies.
This strategy is based on a balance between, on one hand, the desire to assume our share of the supply of oil and gas, the energies that we need today, and that allow us all to live, and on the other hand, the desire to build a player that is strong in the field of electricity, integrated across the entire value chain, from production, in particular of renewable energies, up to marketing. In oil, our strategy is to respond to a demand that remains high, but also to adapt, particularly on the adaptation of a drop in demand on around 2030. In 2022, TotalEnergies continued to refocus its oil portfolio on assets and projects that are low cost, so less than $20 per bbl, and with low greenhouse gas emissions, so less than 19 kilo per bbl.
This strategy is materialized in Brazil, with entries in the fields of Sépia and Atapu, whose production immediately benefited from high prices, and more recently also, in SARB and Umm Lulu, in the concession of in Abu Dhabi. Thanks to this strategy, TotalEnergies has now a more resilient and profitable portfolio. TotalEnergies' ambition in oil is to maintain its production over the decade before adapting it to the drop in demand, and in order to be able to prepare to this drop in demand in Europe, to realign our refining capacities and distribution on our production. I remind you that the oil fields are naturally declining by 3%- 4% per year, and that to maintain our production, we must invest in new oil fields.
I also remind you that the demand for oil worldwide is growing, that if it is not TotalEnergies that meets demand, others will do it in our place. It is not TotalEnergies alone that will decide what our customers' needs are, even if we act on demand, we do act on demand by diversifying our energy offer, which is moving and evolving, as I will explain it, towards less carbon-intensive energies. In this strategy, we also have adopted the growth strategy in LNG in particular, because of the positive role of gas in the energy transition, this for two main reasons. Firstly, because this energy makes it possible to ensure the reliability of the supply and electricity to our customers while compensating the intermittency of renewable energies.
Because gas allows us the substitution to coal in electricity generation in many countries, and that gas is much less polluting than coal. We have thus assessed that our LNG sales in 2022 will be substituted to coal and fuel oil for the production of electricity have contributed to avoiding approximately 70 million tons of CO2 in 2022. Marie-Christine has expressed it, we have strengthened our position as player for LNG with new projects in Qatar. These decisions will make it possible to contribute the security of LNG supply in Europe in the next years, as we were also able to do it in 2022. Dear shareholders, you will note that in this area, TotalEnergies has once again, taken its responsibilities very rapidly.
From the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, we have mobilized to contribute to the energy security of the countries in the European Union. We have done this by publicly articulating the responsible principles of actions by which we conduct our activities in relation to Russia. We also participated in the creation of new of liquefied gas import points in Europe by bringing in floating regasification terminals that were positioned in other regions of the world. I'm here thinking about the projects in Lubmin, in Germany, which were inaugurated at the start of January, also the projects located in the harbor of Le Havre, which will be commissioned by the end of September. Thanks to this position as a number one in regasifications in Europe, TotalEnergies has been a significant contribution to...
for the security of supply on the continent by covering more than 20% of Europe's LNG needs. This is the final pillar of our strategy and for a multi-energy company in 2022. Our company was the major which invested the most to build the energy model of tomorrow, which will be based on electricity, in particular from renewable capacities and new molecules that will be low carbon. Nearly $4 billion were invested in 2022, and this figure will increase further in 2023 to reach $5 billion. I confirm, contrary to what some imply, that these investments do not include the investments in gas and LNG, but only electricity and low carbon molecules, such as biofuels, biogas, hydrogen, and carbon capture. I'd like to emphasize as well how much we have accelerated the investments in the energy transition.
$2 billion in 2020, $3 billion in 2021, $4 billion in 2022, $5 billion in 2023. These investments will represent one third of our investments each year over the rest of the decade, which is quite significant and will allow us to build a tool that will supply a mix of energy products, less carbon emissions, and better products to our clients. To those who call us greenwashers, let's talk about these investments. In 2022, we acquired 50% of the fifth renewable developer for $1.6 billion. We have invested in offshore wind projects for $1.2 billion in the U.S., Scotland, Taiwan. We have invested in solar projects in France and the U.S. for $700 million. For biogas, biofuels, CO2 storage, $300 million investments. For...
In 2023, we continue in this momentum with a 100% acquisition of Total Eren for nearly $2 billion. Participation in the developer of renewable energies, Casa dos Ventos, for $500 million. We invest also in solar projects in Spain, France, and the U.S. for $1.4 billion, and we accelerate our efforts in biofuels, biogas, hydrogen for $800 million. For the $10 billion investments that we are making in new capacities, half is devoted to new energies to build the carbon-free energy for tomorrow. Half to hydrocarbons to continue to provide the energy that our societies need, especially the populations of emerging countries who aspire to a better standard of living.
Dear shareholders, as you can see, your company has been committed since 2020 to an ambitious strategy of balanced transformation, conciliating profitable growth and sustainable development in order to meet the challenges of providing more energy to an ever-growing population. The company has also set itself the objective of reducing its emissions, with the ambition of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, together with society, and thus actively participating in the energy transition. This is the second point that I would like to mention now in this presentation.
Beyond the very good financial results that have been presented to you, we are also proud of the concrete progress made in terms of energy transition and reduction of our emissions. Our continued project, progress in 2022, in line with our 2030 objective, demonstrates year- after- year, our resolute commitment to the transformation of your company on the way to its ambition for 2050. While we have accelerated the level of investment in low-carbon energies, as I have just explained to you, we have also proposed during this general assembly, to strengthen our emission reduction targets.
For emissions relating to our operated facilities, those we call Scope 1 and 2, the those directly linked to our industrial activities, the reduction of our CO2 emissions in our operations was nearly between 30% in 2015. Reference year is 2022. The efforts are therefore real. We have real results as well. As you know, we have started to create a fleet of gas-fired power plants as part of our electricity strategy, which conversely emitted 7 million tons of carbon in 2022, a very high level because it is in Europe. We have contributed in the context of a crisis to supply energy in order to compensate the different shortages. The reduction at the global level of the company was more than 13% in 2022 compared to 2015.
In March 2023, the board decided to strengthen our objectives for to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, with a new objective, an absolute value of 38 million tons of CO2 from 2025, compared to 40 million tons previously. This is made possible thanks to the mobilization of all of our teams on a $1 billion program, over two years, dedicated to the energy efficiency of our sites. This program, whose return on investment is less than four years, is clearly in line with our strategy to be a low-cost, low-emission energy producer. Reducing methane emissions is also essential for a company like ours, given our growth strategy in natural gas, which will represent half of our sales in 2030.
In this context, we must be models on the subject of methane emissions, which was identified as a major issue during the different COPs in Glasgow and Sharm El-Sheikh. In your report, Sustainability & Climate – 2023 Progress Report, that you submit to the board of directors today, we have confirmed our ambition to move towards zero methane, as well as our objective of reducing methane emission by 50% in 2025, and 80% in 2030. We are well on the way to achieving these objectives, in particular, thanks to the development by our research teams of a technology for measuring and detecting methane emissions, considered to be the most precise in the world today.
It has just been acknowledged by the European Union and the United States in a partnership with the University of Colorado to implement measuring methods that are qualified on the global level. This technology is installed on drones that you have seen in the video previously, and it is deployed in all of our sites. We also allow our partners to benefit from it on sites that we do not operate. If the management of Scope 1 and 2 and methane emissions is fully our direct responsibility, because we can act directly on them, we are also committed to contributing to the reduction of our customers' emissions.
This year, we have decided, once again in the report, to strengthen the objective and reduce the carbon intensity of the energy mix we sell to our customers, since we are suggesting to have -20% and -25% by 2030, compared to 2015, and 15% in 2025. This indicator has already decreased by 12% since 2015, which places clearly TotalEnergies as a leader among its peers in the decarbonization of its energy mix. This decarbonization trajectory is ambitious and in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement to keep the increase in global average temperature well below two degrees above pre-industrial levels.
You will find in the report, Sustainability and Climate 2023, the details of how we can assess the alignment of our Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction targets with the NZE Scenario at 1.5 degrees of the International Energy Agency, as well as the alignment of our objective of reducing the carbon intensity of the energy mix sold to our customers with the APS scenario at 1.7 degrees, the same IEA. In this context, it seems relevant for me now to address the more general question of Scope 3 and the resolution proposed by a group of shareholders. This resolution invites the board of directors to align its existing reduction targets for 2030, covering greenhouse gas emissions for the use of its energy product, Scope 3, with the Paris Climate Agreement.
It implies that Scope 3 emissions could, as such, be aligned with the Paris Agreement by the sole will of the company, TotalEnergies, and that the strategy adopted by the company would be insufficient in this respect. Dear shareholders, I would like to tell you in all honesty that this resolution does not provide a credible response to the challenges of climate change. It is contrary to the interest of the company, its shareholders, and its customers. First, I should, I would like to remind you, for all intents and purposes, that Scope 3 is the sum of Scope 1 and other economic actors who make decisions to use energy and set their needs. To give you a concrete example, when we sell kerosene for air transportation, the emissions associated to the use of this kerosene is in Scope 1 of the air company, the aircraft company.
It's also the same emissions for under Scope 3 for manufacturing an engine. In this way, Scope 3 does not add up. They are redundant. Only Scope 1 are additive and make it possible to report on the actions taken on greenhouse gas emissions by each of the players who are directly responsible for the emissions. All of this case is a question of a chain and cooperation between all actors. Adopting this resolution would make the company responsible, and only responsible, for these emissions. We do not intervene in the chain of production or sale of goods and equipment that consume energy or require energy for their manufacturing. We do not manufacture planes, automobile. We cannot be made responsible for the reduction of emissions linked to the manufacturing of these goods by clients.
Let's not be mistaken. This is our duty as a responsible industrial player, to act in order to help transform the energy demand of his, our customers, and thus help them to reduce their Scope 1 and 2. We are thus developing our offer to offer a wider range of energy products, including low-carbon ones, by, for example, in the aviation sector, to have sustainable aviation fuels. We also support our customers in their decarbonization plans. It is the concerted actions of all the players in the chain that can have a concrete impact on global greenhouse gas emissions and change energy consumption patterns.
Asking a company like TotalEnergies to drastically reduce its Scope 3 world and absolute value, as proposed by the resolution, implies, without the customers themselves having reduction targets for their Scope 1, and the overall structure of energy demand does not change, as in fact, ineffective in reducing emissions at the global level. On the contrary, it would only lead to directing this energy demand to other suppliers, in particular, state oil companies, whose transition plans, when they exist, are far from being as ambitious as those of actors such as TotalEnergies. Your board of directors also considers that the resolution proposed by this group of investors is contrary to the interest of the company and its shareholders. It would push TotalEnergies to dispose of assets and produce energies, therefore emissions, thus would be, at the same time, an obstacle to the implementation of our ambition.
It requires an important investment and a value creation in the interest of our shareholders in order to follow our transition. It's what is beneficial to climate is to build the new energy system that the world needs today. We are working on it strongly. As you can see, climate is at the heart of our concerns. We are convinced by the credibility. This is why we are submitting to you today, for the third year in a row, the progress achieved to your vote and consultation, to a wide majority. Shareholders were in favor of our resolutions last year. Not only have we shown that we were able to hold our targets, We can also strengthen, as we are doing, these objectives in order to ramp up in our transition.
We hope that you will renew your trust by voting for Resolution 14 and against Resolution A. To be a global company is to take advantage of the market economy and create value. It is also to share this value. A fair sharing practice by our company is what I want to talk to you right now. We are creating value in nearly 130 countries where we are present. We must, it is our social responsibility to share it by taking care of our stakeholders, without whom we could not develop our activities. It is also important to us to be fully transparent on the way in which this value is redistributed to our employees in the first place, to our customers, to states, to you, ladies and gentlemen, our shareholders.
In 2022, your company generated a historical high figure of $75 billion in added value. Some have spoken of super profits and the need to tax them. First, let me say, I don't know what super profits means. Yes, TotalEnergies made profits last year, higher than 2021 because energy prices themselves were very high. These profits, and first and foremost, and I want to emphasize this, the fruit of the work of the 100,000 employees of your company, and it is also the fruit of the successful strategies that TotalEnergies has implemented, such as, for example, betting on liquefied natural gas a few years ago. We are proud of these achievements, which have enabled us to achieve excellent results in 2022 and at the start of 2023.
Regarding the taxation of profits, which has been at the center of many debates in our country, I would like to recall the reality of the situation of your company. In 2022, TotalEnergies paid $33 billion in taxes and duties globally. We have gone from $16 billion in taxes paid in 2021 to $33 billion in 2022, more than double, and our average tax rate has been over 40%. It's not just nothing. We pay taxes in all the countries in which we produce energy, and we have benefits. Of course, we share our profits, and this is obviously fundamental to us with our employees. In 2022, we paid an exceptional bonus to all of our employees worldwide, corresponding to 1 month compensation.
In France, our employees on the common social base are around 14,000 employees, benefited from a salary increase of 7.5% to take into account inflation. This measure was supplemented by a 15% increase in the budgets for bonuses for workers and supervisors, and variable portions for executives. The increase in compensation was about 10% in average for managers on the common social base. To this is added, for French employees, the incentive participation, which was an average of EUR 9,000 last year, with a floor of EUR 7,000, ceiling of EUR 7,000. Furthermore, your company is very attached to the development of employees' share ownership.
It is at the heart of our value-sharing policy because it represents the best way to involve employees in the economic performance of the company, to strengthen their sense of belonging, and above all, to align their interest with yours, shareholders of the company. The decision taken in 2015 by your board to carry out a capital increase every year, compared to every two years previously, with a discount reserved for employees, bears witness to this, as does the continuous increase in the scope of allocation of performance shares, which now concerns more than 11,000 employees worldwide. This year, again, the employees of TotalEnergies confirmed their attachment to the company by largely subscribing to the capital increase operation reserved for them. 46% of employees subscribed.
That is a participation rate up by five points, for a total amount of more than EUR 350 million. That is an average of seven thousand euros in savings invested in the company. This increase is the result of a measure resulting from social dialogue within the company since we accepted the request of representative organizations that employees can use their profit sharing from 2023 to reinvest in the company. As Chairman and CEO, I am proud of this, it reinforces my conviction that the employees fully support the strategy of transforming TotalEnergies into a multi-energy company. Furthermore, I also welcome the recent publication of the European Federation of Employee Share Ownership, which ranks TotalEnergies as the second largest European company for employee ownership, based on the amount of capital held by employees.
Indeed, more than 65% of TotalEnergies employees are shareholders that hold more than 7% of the capital of the company, and as such, received in 2022, approximately EUR 700 million in dividends. I would also like to salute the quality of the social dialogue, which enabled us to present to you, our shareholders, the resolution abolishing double voting rights with the support of our employee shareholders. Because, in fact, this dual votes that benefited to nominative shareholders for more than two years, benefits today to our employees. In the framework of an ambitious project, as part of an ambitious agreement, which aims to bring employee shareholding to 10% of shareholders, we have agreed on conditions which will make it possible to promote even more in 2024 and the following years, access to shareholding by our employees.
TotalEnergies shares its profits with its customers as well. The context of geopolitical crisis has resulted in a very long tensions on the energy markets. Prices soared to exceptionally high levels in 2022 and remain high today. This has significant impacts, we are well aware, on purchasing power, particularly in France. It is an essential good. We have led actions in France to contribute to limit the increase in the cost of energy in daily life for our clients. In our service stations first, to cope with the rise in fuel prices, TotalEnergies made discounts very soon, from February 2022, in its service stations in rural areas, and throughout the year, we continued to support our customers with rebates at the pump, which represented more than EUR 500 million in 2022.
In 2023, we also committed against rising fuel prices by guaranteeing that the price of our diesel and petrol fuels does not exceed EUR 1.99 per liter in all of our 3,400 service stations in France. We all have also been at the side of our electricity and gas customers, for example, by helping small and medium-sized companies in our country to cope with the rising cost of energy by granting them discounts and allowing them to smooth their charges when necessary. Finally, we, alongside these measures, have encouraged, and it's important during this crisis, to have energy sobriety. During 2022, 2023, we put in place what we call the consumer bonus to reward our private customers and small professionals who save at least 5% of their electricity consumption during the winter compared to the previous winter.
This call has been heard. We are happy about it. Thus, during the winter 2022, 2023, more than 50% of our customers eligible for the Conso Bonus reduced their consumption by more than 5% compared to the previous winter. We are happy to give them a check of EUR 90 on average, a cost of EUR 100, approximately, for us. A virtuous initiative that not only decreases bills, but helps the consumption per inhabitant and the corresponding emissions. Finally, last aspect, I cannot forget you, the sharing of value, ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, since in 2022, the return to our shareholders represented 37.2% of the company's cash flow, thus $17 billion.
As you know, we are committed to creating lasting value and profitability to ensure the profitability and sustainability of your investments within our company. Over the past 10 years, the average annual gross return on the share has been at 10.44%, considering, on the one hand, the dividends that were paid and this share. The dividends have never decreased since 1992. The 1942, so 40 years now, even when... 1982, sorry. Even when your company has gone through crisis like the one linked to COVID, this is a strong act of confidence in the company on the part of your board. In the period of transformation of the company, it is essential, in our view, to maintain and even strengthen the confidence of our shareholders.
With a break-even point anchored below $25 per bbl, as was shown previously, TotalEnergies is now much more profitable than 10 years ago. At equivalent barrel and gas prices, your company has generated $15 billion of additional cash flow in 2022. As explained, our debt ratio fell sharply to 7%, which allows us to accelerate our transformation strategy and offer an attractive shareholder return policy. In this context, in last September, your board decided that from now on, we would allocate between 35%-40% of cash flow. We believe that we will ensure these results. The board has thus decided to have this measure and to allocate 35%-40% of cash flow.
For 2022, a $7 million share buyback program was carried out, and an exceptional interim dividend of EUR 1 per share was paid in December 2022, to approval today. Beyond, we consider that shares of TotalEnergies are comparable when compared to American competitors, has a margin to maneuver, and the investments of your company will, I hope, reach the same levels as our American competitors. Beyond the impact on dividends, this buyback of shares also helps increase pay performance shares to our employees in order to facilitate certain acquisitions, as we did for the buyback of Maersk Oil, comforted by in 2027.
Encouraged by the good results for 2022, your board of directors recently confirmed the increase by 7.25% of the first interim dividend for 2023 financial year to EUR 0.75 per share, as well as the buyback of up to $4 billion worth of stocks in the first half of 2023. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, these last few months have finally proved to us that it is possible to be a profitable company, and even the most profitable, while transforming, lowering our emissions, investing massively in the energies of tomorrow, and also sharing the value with all of our stakeholders, whether our employees, our customers, and our host states, and our shareholders. In the same way that we are equipped to face the challenges of the world macroeconomic uncertainties, the IEA...
AI, sorry, interest rates, inflation, geopolitical uncertainties, the rise of artificial intelligence, we are also equipped to respond to these contradictory injunctions of energy and climate, because we have the firm conviction that our transformation is based on a balanced strategy that we assume and that we claim: more energy, fewer emissions, for the benefit of all of our employees, our customers, and for you, dear shareholders. I am proud to be the chairman of a chief executive who is resolutely committed to being a positive actor in the energy transition. I am proud of the commitment of the employees of TotalEnergies, without whom nothing would be possible, and who demonstrate their will that our strategy be crowned with success. I am proud of our shareholders, who have trusted us for many years and are supporting us in this transition. Thank you for your trust and loyalty.
...
I now go over to the questions. First, the written questions. We have 12 shareholders asking questions in the framework of the regulation. It's the Forum pour I'Investissement on Responsible Investment, Madame Yong- Lee, Salle Métamorphose, Jean-Baptiste Perrier, SA Alliance Stratégie Internationale, the Initiative for Citizen Shareholding, Monsieur Bernard, Sycomore Asset Management, Greenpeace France, Les Amis de la Terre, AXA Investment Managers, and Monsieur Benoît Clergeat. The text of these questions, as well as the answers given by the board, will be able to be consulted on the totalenergies.com website on the shareholders general assembly in the next few days. The people who have sent us questions outside of the regulatory framework will receive an answer via mail. I now think we can open up the debate.
As every year, we will be answering most questions that'll be asked in the room or maybe also additionally on the platform, with a priority given, again, to the questions asked by the shareholders present physically. I'd like to reiterate to the intention of our guests that the word is reserved to the shareholders. I'd like for you to limit yourself to one question, as such, as most people can participate in the discussion. I'd like also to respect the debate and listen to people when they take the floor. There will be a time on the screen in order for you to respect the time you have to express your question. We can now start. It's difficult for me to see. Point two, maybe, if someone wants to take the floor.
PFA Denmark, the largest commercial pension fund with approximately $1.3 million customers and close to $80 billion assets under management. At PFA, we value the openness and willingness that TotalEnergies has demonstrated when engaging with PFA and other shareholders. We support TotalEnergies' strategy to build a multi-energy company fit for net zero in 2050. We acknowledge the progress made so far. Meanwhile, CapEx directed to new oil and gas products that lock in future emissions are being criticized for being incompatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement and, consequently, a net zero emission. We welcome TotalEnergies' disclosure of how you estimate the alignment of your 2030 Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon intensity targets with IEA's 1.7 degrees announced pledge scenario.
Going forward, we would strongly welcome that you disclose and quantify how you assess the alignment of your CapEx plans with your decarbonization targets and, hence, the Paris Agreement. What is your perspective on this, please? Thank you.
Merci, sir.
Thank you. This is a question that comes back very often. I'm going to try to answer this across what I have just said. The debate, the challenge is that at the same time we need to produce the energy that we need today, but also construct a decarbonized system for tomorrow. We have developed our CapEx allocation, our investments. In 2014, 2015, we invested between $20 billion and $25 billion. 15 of them were consecrated only for new hydrocarbon projects. In 2023, we have invested less globally because $20 billion-$25 billion is too much, $16 billion, more or less, and only $5 billion in hydrocarbons and $5 billion in new energies. This is a deep evolution, and on that side, again.
we consider that we are on a trajectory in terms of emissions that will allow us to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. It is difficult, the question of alignment that you mention, because we have tried to answer it, and we do answer it across the experts that we ask questions in the Climate and Sustainability Report. We also try to assess, as I said, if the carbon intensity of the products and the energy that we supply to our customers is evolving in the right direction. As you said in your question, a reduction of -25% between 2015 and 2030 is indeed in line with the scenario of 1.7 degrees of the International Energy Agency.
Furthermore, I also highlight that globally speaking, I know that some shareholders also make reference to the Transition Pathway Initiative, supporting the action for climate. The TPI experts confirm that the long-term objectives of TotalEnergies are sufficiently ambitious to reach this 1.7 goal by 2050. There's only companies that do so from over 50. They have been analyzed, and they have received this qualification. The idea, I think I've mentioned it in my speech, that we need to stop investments in hydrocarbon projects, although, as I said as well, the production is declining by 3%-4%, and the demand is continuously growing. This is not the strategy that we'll be following for this decade.
We're following a strategy that allows us to maintain, not to increase, but maintain production and accelerate on new energies. The alignment, furthermore, we also translate it via the trajectory of Scope 1 and 2 emissions of our operations, where our ambition of reduction is 40%, and this is also in line with these scenarios. Again, we have asked to third parties to confirm whether this is good or not. This is the answer that I can give you. I note your support and the useful dialogue that we have with PFA, your, so your investment fund. Where we disagree, however, on the background with the Net Zero goal, is that we should stop investments into the project. If we stop investments now, we cannot respond to the demand, which is growing still.
If we do not do it as TotalEnergies, other companies will do it in our place. This is therefore the debate on climate change, where a concerted action on demand, on needs to take place, not just on the offer. Otherwise, if we reduce the offer, maybe also this would mean that the prices would rise strongly. This is not what the clients want, and this is not a just transition. I see number five. I'll go around. Hello, President. Phitrust , Olivier de Guerre. In complement of the question that's just been asked, I'd like to thank you for the general assembly in person and not virtually, no matter the issues there is to get here.
I'd like to thank TotalEnergies for the improvement, the transparency for this climate goal, for your ambition. I compare the decisions that we've had in 2012, and I'm very glad to see where we got to today. I think there's really an ambiguity in what you present and what your shareholders expect. You know that the EU Taxonomy is coming to Europe. It will force all institutional shareholders to come out of companies that have fossil fuels if they don't have clear goals of net zero by 2050. This is very simple for the board of directors and yourselves. Given what you said, given your strategy, do you think that by 2050, we will have mostly renewable energies in TotalEnergies, or will we still have fossil fuels?
Because all this will depend on the shareholders' activities, and I would regret that in if three, five years, there will be no more French shareholders in the TotalEnergies capital. I would think it is a shame as well, because we looked at this exercise of tax activity, and we already, yes, last year, had exercises on that, and we had a conform exercise. 31% investments are in line on the EU Taxonomy. About what I just described to you, this also means that if we need to do a lot of calculations to get there, we're still joining, we're still meeting, and that's what we were saying when some say it's not 100% correct. We do confirm that it's 34% eligible and 31 aligned for the EU Taxonomy in 2022.
To answer your question, there's not many companies that have described what they would be in 2050, and we were proud enough to do it. In the Sustainability and Climate document, we gave our orientation, where we would get to, and this is a transformed model, deeply transformed. Because half of our productions will be renewables, taken from renewables, hydrocarbon production will be used, in line also with the Net Zero trajectory. In order to implement this transformation, there's only one way: it is to take part of the cash flow from carbon hydros and use them for renewables. Of course, therefore, we will transform the company, but if we do this today, it's because we are determined.
We know that energy is something that takes a long time, that we need to start right away, take position in order to be able to grow these new activities. We just published, Jean-Pierre mentioned it, for the first time, the results that we call Integrated Power, that show on the first semester we have about $400 billion, therefore, 10%. This, to launch this strategy five years ago, I think it's quite remarkable to be able to have a sector that, on this year, will be also expecting a result of $1.5 billion, given our activities in retail and distribution of petrol across the world. This action is concrete, it's clear, it's real.
When a company like ours, and with the report that you will be voting on, describes what it will imagine being in 2050, I think this is a form of commitment. There is here a pathway, a pathway going across various points. Again, where we are asking you to judge us as well is, do you think we will reach this goal in 2050? Well, we believe that given our capacity in renewables, last year we went to 17 GW. We're now at 18, and last year we grew our capacity from 6 GW during the year, and this is what we need to reach our ambitions by 2030. All these are concrete results, and I hope the shareholders in Europe will listen to us. Otherwise, things will be happening.
What's happening today? Our shareholdings will go on the other side of the Atlantic. The institutional shareholders have reached 46% of the capital of TotalEnergies this semester, and they were 35% about three, four years ago. I really, I hope, because we are a company that is very close to Europe, very attached to Europe, we have our headquarters here in France, our shareholders in Europe and France maintain their trust, and I hope they do not get tangled in something that's the opposite of what the company, the society needs today. In 2022, the European government supported EUR 500 billion for fossil energy because the population of our developed countries couldn't support the high energy prices. This is the reality of today. As I said earlier, if we produce less, the prices will rise.
Maybe this is in the interest of TotalEnergies. I also observe in 2022, Biden, the president of the U.S., has accused producers of not producing enough. I think we all need to face the fact that this transition, this energy transition, is a difficult fight. It is very complex to go from one energy system today that's at 80% of fossil energy, to as fast as possible, going over to a system that is completely decarbonized. This is the reality of the world. This is very complex. We are committed with our means.
I know that we consider us as a major in oil, but at our level, I think our real ambition, because it is the future of the energy, this strategy, if we have proposed it, implemented it with the board of directors, it's because we want TotalEnergies to remain, to survive. In the face of a market of hydrocarbons that in degrow- that is lagging behind, we need to find in renewable energies, maybe points of growth where we can continue to bring dividends to our shareholders. This, as always, in energy, takes time, but it is what we are committed to.
I will answer to number four.
Philippe Chaunet, individual French shareholder. Good morning, Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen. Currently, we hear in all of the general assemblies, all companies, we only hear about energy transition and timeline that is more or less short to reach it. I think there is a fundamental issue. We talk about green energies, everybody thinks to electricity or... For electricity, green electricity is not produced all the time. As you have said, you need gas alongside it, in my opinion, there's a huge problem in terms of storage and in the use for transportation, namely, since we use batteries that, during production, generate pollution, a huge pollution that no one mentions in South America.
I believe, personally, that in the medium term or short term, in 2040, 2050, the only solution in the future for transportation, for long distances, and for heavyweight, for trucks, would be with hydrogen. I think that I know that TotalEnergies is investing in hydrogen slightly, but maybe should it invest more massively? Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you for your question. Hydrogen is a molecule, an interesting molecule. We need to be able to produce it. There's very little natural hydrogen or white hydrogen, as we call it. It is full of impurities, which makes its production cost very high. Hydrogen, in fact, to produce it's either through natural gas, and you store carbon- or with water electrolysis, but you need electricity. When we talk about hydrogen, in fact, we talk about electricity.
When we talk about green hydrogen, this is the one we are, if we had a strategy, we would turn to, at least for TotalEnergies. We need to produce electricity, and you're right, the standards and challenges for this transition is that roughly we need to multiply by two our ability to produce on the global level. Now it's 20% of the end consumption for the world. We should move to 40%. This electricity, as you also said, has a flaw: it cannot be stored very easily. Electrons do not like to be stored, so it's an energy that is not stored, is a challenge in production and also economically, that is higher than others.
This is why we consider that all we do in terms of our efforts in renewable energies will enable us to be an actor in electricity. To have a decrease in the cost of hydrogen, you need a decrease in the cost of electricity. The second specificity, as you said, for hydrogen to be able to produce at a low cost, we need electrolysis to produce constantly. This supposes to be able to produce a decarbonated electric power that is available at all times. You need renewable energies, you need batteries, you need the nuclear energy as well, but all of these are complex systems, so I understand your point of view.
Today, a second comment, when you talked about transportation, you need to bear in mind that to produce hydrogen, well, a lightweight vehicle with electric vehicle is less performing energetically than a simple electric vehicle. It's a ratio from one to four. This is why today, electric vehicles, well, with batteries are imposed because they have an energy efficiency that is much higher. What we have decided on at the level of TotalEnergies is, first of all, yes, we want to look at hydrogen. We have already started to do so because we ourselves are a great customer in hydrogen.
Our refinery consumes about 80,000 tons per year. We are ready to launch a call for tender on the global level to see if we can obtain other suppliers than ourselves on a competitive level for green hydrogen for these important volumes we need. This will enable us to commit to green hydrogen. We also have our own projects for green hydrogen in the La Mède refinery. The other thing we announced recently in hydrogen, an association with Air Liquide, a great actor in hydrogen, to be able to build a network in Europe of 100 service stations for trucks that could in, by 2030, turn towards hydrogen. There's a debate or question about whether these trucks will be electrified, will have batteries.
We talk about 1 MW charging stations to charge trucks that could travel kilometers for less than 30 minutes. Let's not be wrong. Because of the efforts that are made in the field of light electric vehicles and massive investments we are carrying out in batteries, through ACC, the progress made in the field of batteries are extremely impressive and quick. I really understood your call for our interest to look into hydrogen. I want to say we are putting all our efforts to be an actor in electricity, to be competitive. This is an entry point, of course, in order in the future to be able to produce hydrogen and to address this market if the demand grows as some forecast it. I will now take number one.
Dominique Chauvin, Prospectiviste. You talked about hydrogen. We talk about it extensively as it being a vector for transition, but we talk about hydrogen with electrolysis and all the issues you mentioned. We could wonder whether there will be enough electricity to do so, but there is another type of green hydrogen which comes from thermolysis of biomass, and you have a negative carbon. There's a small company in France that is looking into it, financed by Eren. My question is to know if through the, through your affiliate, Total Eren, you are involved in these reflections on working on these topics with a prospective vision in order to have a negative carbon hydrogen, which has a dual game and dual advantage.
The EREN Groupe subsidizes or finances, it's a share, it's a shareholder of a wonderful startup that develops a project for micro nuclear thermal reactors, which could be installed directly in the plants in order to produce heat that is decarbonated. It's very complicated to have decarbonated heat because traditionally we have it through coal and gas or fuel, and eventually through biomass, but we're not gonna burn biomass to create heat. In this case, we have a production of heat with high temperatures for the industry. The promise of this microreactor is in 2026. My question also through the EREN Groupe, are you involved around these reflections for the future? My answer is, Eren is not TotalEnergies. It's a group that is owned by Pâris Mouratoglou, who is a visionary in the world of energy.
He's at the origins of EDF Energies Nouvelles, and then he left it, he created Eren. We have become shareholders, but he created an Eren that was an energy producer for renewables, solar, wind. We are shareholders today. Well, we became shareholders five years ago in the framework of our agreement. We are also going to become 100% shareholders in the buyback of their company, but this is for renewable energies. Pâris Mouratoglou, who is a friend, by the way, and I say hello to him, he's continuing to invest his capitals in other projects, among which the SMR project. TotalEnergies are not involved in this specific project. It's independent. His group is gonna pursue. We have decided to continue collaborating with Eren through a common affiliate on hydrogen, by the way.
We haven't yet spoken of hydrogen and thermolysis of biomass, but I noted your idea. These are two. There's Pâris Mouratoglou, who is an entrepreneur. He is very involved in energies. I consider that he has a vision. Up to us to know what we want to do together. Once again, I have already talked about the nuclear aspect. Heat, heat is not really a field we are involved in, and we do not want to move into it. As you know, we do not want to add more competencies or skills that we not have to our energy portfolio. What I suggest is I make a note, of course, of the hydrolysis and negative carbon that you mentioned. I'm gonna take question number three, perhaps. I'm trying to go back and forth.
Christian Chavialle, individual shareholder, I had a question on talents: What are the actions in place to attract and retain your talents in the scientific field, especially for engineers and for women?
Very well. Talents, I'd like to say, I know that people say it's hard to attract talents, but when we implement, we put in place an offer, we have 170 position people for 1 position. Secondly, in the scientific field, engineers, recently, as you know, we opened an initiative. We created an entity presided by Namita Shah, called OneTech, in order to have our engineers look into not only one of the energy businesses, explore production or refining or renewable energies, but being able to open up and offer their skills to all of these energies produced, and to be able to train to electricity and other aspects.
We also launched this year what we called a graduate program, in order to attract 100 young talents to take part in OneTech, a three-year program, in order to help them discover all of our energies and competencies. We had 60 candidacies from engineers, scientists, for the 100 positions. You see, 6,000 candidates. The first point, TotalEnergies is attractive. It attracts talents, so we were not lacking talents. This is not an issue. It doesn't mean, by the way, I do understand it. I read papers, and as you do, and social networks give more importance to what is said than 60 candidates for a position I mentioned. Maybe we should start doing that as well, but Agnieszka Kmieciak has tried.
She had published something on LinkedIn with Namita Shah. We also must hear, as in the company, and I said, we respect... We need to respect the values, to listen to young people who say that this is not going fast enough. Some of them probably want to contribute to the energy transition by joining us because we are offering to young people an important ability to be involved in projects, and others decide to turn their backs to us. I respect each and everyone's point of view. Concerning young ladies, it is a topic, an important one in, for science and women. We know today we ourselves have ambitions, to feminize our executives, and it is a question for TotalEnergies, who recruits, after graduating from universities, young women.
In France, the reform of the Baccalaureate, I don't know it very well. It didn't incentivize to go in the right direction. They're turning their back, namely, to hard sciences, not biology, but more, turning their back to hard sciences, which is a pool of talent for us. We are making efforts. There are initiatives that have been launched by human resources, and I don't remember the name, maybe Namita can help me, in order to invite, to convince young women to be involved in these scientific careers and technical careers in order to broaden the pool of talents we can have. Please note that for our company, there is a true effort to promote, and I believe in diversity that can express itself around a table at different levels.
Our objective for 2025 is for women to represent 30% of the positions, in management at the heart of the company.
This is what I can answer to you, and I don't remember the name of the initiatives. It's something that we got involved in order to be more diversified. Maybe Namita, you could talk, say a word about it? Namita, it's called STEM, Women for STEM. We committed to got involved to contribute to this development of women in these scientific studies in France. I'm gonna take number seven now.
Mr. Pouyanné.
Hello, Mr. Pouyanné. Thank you for giving me the floor. I'm Tarek Bouhouch. I work for Follow This . I am an association of shareholders that have co-deposited the Resolution A. The science is clear: to limit climate change and limit to 1.5 degrees, as the Paris Agreement stipulate, we need to divide by two our emissions by 2030. Our company is one of the biggest emitters in the world, if we look at the report of the Carbon and Climate Project. We need changes to reduce the emissions by 2030. The board of directors is determined to continue with their business model, focused on hydrocarbons as long as possible.
On the ISS vote and the recommendation in favor of Resolution A on climate, I will translate the climate plan for the company is not rigorous enough, in particular on the global goal on Scope 3 for 2030 and the pursuit of the petrol and oil projects for... If TotalEnergies had a goal in line with the Paris Agreement, the board of director wouldn't encourage its shareholders to vote against Resolution A, that just only asks for the Scope 3 to be in line with the Paris Agreement by 2030. Therefore, I will not make you waste your time by talking with the board of director, and I will talk to you, dear shareholders. Your advice is to remain with the hydrocarbons because they believe that this is what the shareholders want.
The question is coming. Your advice. I'm going to help you, the shareholders. Shareholders have deposited a resolution. It's inscribed, and it's. I think we should ask him to express himself. I would have liked to have this on the agenda. This would have given you more time to express yourself, but I think we should listen to you to hear what you've got to say.
Thank you. I do apologize. I went through the Investor Relations. They asked me to express myself. I do not propose any polemics here. Just give us your point. You can make this choice by voting for the Resolution A, asking for a reduction of emission Scope 3 by 2030, in line with the Paris Agreement on climate.
Today, when the votes of this general assembly will be shown, we'll know how many shareholders are worried about the future of the world economy and who will support TotalEnergies to continue the harm that they are doing. In the end, it is in the interest of the company and its shareholders to seize opportunities that are provided by energy transitions that would allow also to stop risks of losing access to the capital markets, to talents linked to political interventions, litigations, and responsibles of climate change, innovation of rupture, exposition to lost assets.
As long as the shareholders will allow the companies to destroy the climate and not be in line with the Climate Change Agreement, this means we need to continue investing into hydrocarbons beyond what the climate agreement stipulates, and by stopping investing in alternative measures. We need to find clarity. Just a few more minutes. I will ask a question to the President, because the only decision to be made is to dissociate short-term profits to long-term risks.
We are waiting for the question. Please ask your question.
President, TotalEnergies can be in line with the Paris Agreement without reducing absolutely anything in a wider scale of the Scope 3 emissions by 2030.
We have read your resolution, and I think I have answered. The board has answered. Scope 3, I'm going to give a simple example that I've mentioned in my speech with planes. The air industry, for 20 years, has done about 2% efficiency in terms of efficiency on planes per year, and therefore, with technology, innovation manages to consume and use less kerosene. However, Scope 1 of air companies, because this is what we're talking about, has increased. Why? The demand of air transportation has increased. There's more people on the planet who want to fly. How do you want TotalEnergies to decide-
whether the policy of trade of air companies is the right one. Our job is to supply energy, and we're committed to it, to invest also in sustainable air transportation that are more expensive, of course, as well. This is also why all this needs to be organized. It's taking some time, but when we do supply the fuels that are 3x, 4x more expensive than current kerosene, clients will also have to contribute. The only way, the only option, is not in the interest of the shareholders. TotalEnergies would be to stop the assets that will be taken over by other companies, and therefore, without having a positive impact on the environment, because this is Scope 3.
Scope 3 means that you want to make us responsible of the demand of air transportation that is making companies live. We are not responsible for it. We disagree on that point very deeply. Our real goal, this was the question from a shareholder earlier, the question is: if we really can evolve along the years on our energy mix, this is a key indicator for us. This is the carbon intensity indicator of the energy product that we provide to our clients. We went from 12% in 2015 to 2022. We have for a mission to go up to 25% in 2030. We will look at this indicator. As we have also presented it in the Sustainability Climate Report, we reach a trajectory of reduction of 25%.
That is in line with an APS of 1.7 degrees scenario. These are the points on the debate. You also mentioned the support of ISS, to make sure that all shareholders in the room, that the same agency, the same voting and election agency, because for Lewis, the group has also supplied the same resolution to the five shareholders of the oil majors, BP and Exxon, as well as Chevron. The ISS agency has said to vote against the resolution for all other providers except us, although we are the most committed. There is here a point that makes me think, well, we cannot call for one oil company, or for two, maybe for two oil companies, to deepen the goal on Scope 3 because they don't have one.
Maybe the reflection is here, and maybe we should never had one in the first place. I think in this situation, either we look at the glass as being half empty or half full. The energy transition, again, we're doing it with society. We're not doing it against society and our clients. We want to convince them to go towards this energy transition little by little. If, again, TotalEnergies puts a cross on the production by 2030, as you propose it, because you say we should divide by two our hydrocarbon production. If we do this, if we divide by two our production, if this is the only goal, to reach the goal, then if you explain us how to do this, I'm ready to listen to you.
If we don't do this, somebody else will be producing this oil and gas because the company, the society needs it. This is at the heart of the debate. What I hope for, and I think this is also what we've done and I'd like to highlight it, the opening of the board of director and the dialogue between shareholders, and the reaction that you've given was the subject of a legal debate, and we have decided that it was preferable for all, given the intensity of the debate, to submit it to voting, rather than as we did last year in a different nature, and not to submit it to vote. We are open to it. I think this dialogue needs to continue as we've had the opportunity to meet you during the year.
I think I've met you twice during this year, so we're going to continue doing so. What is important on one part is to be able to listen. This doesn't mean simply looking at. This is a bit of a difficulty that we're confronted with radical positions that mean that we can't listen anymore to each other. I think the path that we have walked so far since 2015 is quite impressive. I didn't expect, although when I became CEO in 2015, I didn't think I'd give you the investment plans that I've given you today. This is a deep evolution, and I think that what will be interesting to look at in the votes today is also to look at the % of shareholders that support the resolution of the board of directors.
You were 89% last year. This is a very high level. In my eyes, this is also much more important than the score that will be the one of your resolution.
Number eight, I believe.
Hello, Mr. President, Mr. Chair. I am delighted to have heard you at several occasions this year on BFM Business, where you were. Your speech was of great quality. Taking into account what you presented to us today, you said you would come back more often on BFM Business to speak. Since you also, I believe, sensitive to the advice that is provided to you, I would give you another, which is maybe to answer to journalists that are on BFM TV for the greater number. Maybe you could have an important impact there. I would like to mention that I was in positions in the past, in the banking sector, in management.
In the banking sector, when we offer loans, of course, to our clients, we offer rates and conditions because we have contracts or upstream that enable us to be protected or covered. With all the people in energy, not only TotalEnergies, I have noticed that they made proposals or suggestions to small and medium-sized companies, that were, they were delirious with the numbers that could reach 50x, 60x what they paid in the past. My feeling is that the people in energy do not have the same means that bankers do for their proposals or their offers. Do you confirm my feeling, my impression? Do you now have tools that are perhaps maybe more performing, that maybe are over the statistics, and you can make better offers to your clients? Thank you for your answer.
First of all, a comment. Well, the problem is that there are a lot of media in France, and the CEO at TotalEnergies is very solicited, but he also must take care of his company, its development, he dedicate a lot of time to it. I entrust the communication direction, who would love to use my time to make me take part in all of these shows, and tries for, to go from one media to the next. This week, I gave two interviews that are going to be broadcast on the same day, but I have noted that it's not BFM Business, but it's for the wide audience, and maybe we need to take a look at that. In any case, I believe that BFM's director must be very happy of your intervention. We'll see.
Second question, I agree with you. What happened in 2022 is an anomaly, and I'd like to say that we discovered, well, in electricity markets, in power markets, there was an absolute, crazy prices that skyrocketed. The difficulty we have at TotalEnergies, I'd like to mention it justifies our strategy. For the moment, we have more clients than production. When you have more clients than production, and what you have to do is to buy energy on markets. This is why we absolutely want, and when I say the strategy needs to be embedded or integrated, is to increase our abilities to produce in renewables, to be able to supply our clients and master our costs.
When we can master our production costs, we are able, of course, to adapt our offer, which hasn't been the case in 2022, since we were to buy a big part of our electricity on the market. Of course, we made offers that were of prices that were way too high. I admit it. The consequences in January, February, a lot of small and medium-sized companies, bakers, caterers, or people who own restaurants, said it was impossible. You have seen that in January, TotalEnergies was the first one each time, even ahead of consultation meetings organized by the state. I don't know if we need a software, but just common sense. For my teams in charge, it wasn't easy, because last year, we were unlucky.
The person or the client who renewed his or her contract in the beginning, in the midway through the year, the first quarter, there were very high prices. There were discussions internally to say whether we should add a new offer or not. At the time, the government invited operators to add new offers. When we added an offer for the coming year in September 2022, and we looked at prices, purchasing prices in a year, they were extremely high. The policy we decided to adopt, to be moderate, and I say, this goes through losses. We assumed our losses, we assumed them, namely because at some time, I consider in social responsibility to sharing the value, we must indeed understand that we mustn't lose our clients.
There is a level of acceptability of the energy price that we mustn't go over. These increases were extremely high. I'd like to remind you that for restaurant owners, they were able to amortize a part of the overcosts because we supported them, EUR 100 per MW, about EUR 5,500 for EUR 15,000 invoices. I totally agree. I make a note of your suggestion. I will ask our banker friends if they have advice for pricing. Well, I only have one lesson to keep from this: we have to adapt our production capacity, to adapt our cost, and reduce our losses, because prices can be very volatile.
I will now take one, who is waiting, who has been waiting for a long time, and then I'll take six. one, six.
Hello, Mr. President, Mr. Lucet, shareholders from Maisons Laffitte. Yes, my question comes after what was just said previously. Several years ago, you had told me, and it was also my opinion, that for electricity storage, it was more profitable than batteries. I understood that there was a former project that was abandoned in the Black Lake, in the Vosges, the Black Noir, huh? It was put back on the table by public authorities. Even if it's very small, 55 MW, if I remember correctly, for your image, even if you were just a sleeping partner, maybe with a junior partner, maybe it was be very good.
It was beneficial for public opinion and for at a little cost. We don't need to be green, but it's not only a sleeping partner. This is part of the chain for storage and electricity. When I say we want to be a full actor, we need to store, and there are forced dams that brings in water. We have teams today who are looking for these types of projects. I have one in Les Vosges. Well, I'm gonna look at the Lac Noir. Well, it will be a challenge for Michelle and his team. We'll have to prove to all our citizens that we are fully committed. Please know, I know that everybody is convinced, it's extremely efficient.
We need to find the right sites, of course, and have obtained the authorizations.
A small question, perhaps, concerning your management of the strikes, the great strike, well, the inflation and for retirement? To simplify things, we have a feeling that in the French refineries, seen from the outside, of course, the rate of automation is very low, and that there aren't mirror sites or to manage them. I wonder, who hires people on site? I know it's forbidden to ask this, the political opinion of employees, but in a hiring interview, we avoid hiring people from the CGT or other unions.
We cannot automate anything, and everything in a refinery. We have done a certain number of things, there are parts that cannot be automated. One measure we are adopting, to answer to your question, we have decided that some of these positions could, should be held by engineers in these times, and not only by workers, in order to ensure the continuity. There's a plan that other companies or transportation company implemented for continuity. We are deploying it. It's one of the lessons learned, because, of course, it is frustrating to see that 150 people can work on what leaves our refineries. If we want to look at it closely, we want to believe in social dialogue, we want to continue answering, and we provided a great deal of efforts.
I made a note of your desire and your wish for us to ensure the continuity of operations in the best conditions for to supply our country. This is our objective. Number six?
Pierre-Henri Dejean.
My question is on the implications of companies as yours in actions for human development. I'm talking about education. I know you're doing something there, but I think it's a shame that we never talk about it in the media, but also during assemblies as this one here. We're talking about the results, et cetera. It's all very interesting, but your efforts in human development are present, and I think it's a shame not to talk about it. I've seen, for example, what you do in Angola, and this is really interesting. I think major companies as yours, as ours, as we're shareholders, could also have a much bigger impact on human development.
If you talk about it, I think this could be a virtuous circle, because the more you talk about it, the more you will want to work on it.
Yes, we have a few actions in place. We have tried to talk about it during the months of September, October. We've had a campaign in France to show the actions that are being led in favor of youth, in particular for training, education in France, in other countries as well. We have two initiatives. I'm going to promote them because I'm very proud. We have been the first company. Everybody is talking about the schools of production in this country. The government supports the production schools. It's schools that take young people between 15 and 19 year olds who are in a difficult situation with education, and we're talking here about education and more practical education training.
A few years ago, we've decided to encourage and support these schools and go from 40 to 100 schools in the country. We went over to 60 now, and we are still putting in efforts. These schools now.
The parliament has recognized these schools, they weren't before. Our company has helped them to access budgetary credits in various regions. This is a first step. They're real, they are all in our provinces. Each school has about 30 young people, so 30 + 30, that's a lot of people in the end. We have an initiative also in the Paris region, in the street, which, I think if the shareholders want to visit it, I highly encourage you. We're also on the same level as the 42 schools. It's a free school for young people between the age of 20 and 25 that are maybe a bit beyond the usual education process, and they are a bit lost and don't need a bit of orientation, professional orientation.
Here, this is what we're doing. We do modern industry, so drone piloting, all these jobs where we need people, where there's a lot of tension on the market, and these young people spend about a year in the school, a year and a half, two years. We look after the training. 80%, 90% of them find a job just after school. When we're talking about this, in 2022, I have to say, unfortunately, the media, we were so dominated by the current affairs, by the inflation, by the high prices, et cetera, so we hardly talked about this. I think also, I agree, we do not talk about this enough.
I think for this, we need to be a few, and we need ambassadors and know our collaborators also want to be able to talk in the name of the company, and we will be encouraging them to do so, because all of this, I think, needs to be known, and we need to multiply this type of actions. Of course, I'll take your advice. We don't do this only in France. This policy of support, which means that we can operate locally and develop our relationship with local communities. We do this also in most countries that we are present in. Number two, I think you've been waiting for a while. We only have five minutes. We'll be brief.
Hello, Isabelle Guillaumin-Menesson, representative of Fiducial. I will very briefly ask questions.
I apologize, I have to cut you. If you are two times the same shareholder, you cannot ask a question. We only wanted to know a little bit more about your activities of hydraulic fracturing, authorized in the U.S., but very controversial in Europe. The second thing is an article that you've had a few weeks ago in Challenge, where you said on the IACA project that you reduced your impact on the fleet to, from 10% to 0.03%, and we just wanted to know how this was done, how this was possible. For the second question, it was possible because we decided on it, because the board of directors, when we got presented to the document, the project and the stake, well, we wanted to reduce the impact.
We wanted to make sure that the surfaces that we wouldn't use, and also actually, we are still in that phase where we're looking at, whether we can or not, reduce even further, even because we have studies undergo, but this is part of our social responsibility. Our engineers. There's been a debate. They want to optimize the oil production on that field. This can lead to exploiting all the resources, and we've done an arbitrary decision, and we said, "No, we're going not to exploit everything, just a part." We're also taking into account in our reasoning, the fact that at some point, oil, will become scarce, and, this is how it happened.
There was a demand of the revision of the development plan. We had to decide between production and impact, local impact, because this was a dimension that was well clear in our heads, and we didn't manage to convince everybody, but your question confirms that this is the policy that we followed. On hydraulic fracture, this has been going on for a while, 30 years, actually, that we're doing this. We've been doing it in Algeria for a long time, not as TotalEnergies. We weren't operating. Our fields are quite limited. We are not a very important actor in the U.S.
We have inherited of a positioning with Shell, we have another position in Argentina, the hydraulic fracturing is something that's been going on for a while. It's not just about this hydraulic fracturing, fracking, this is indeed also about the recycling of water. I need to say that on that, progress has been quite impressive. We really started in a chaos in the U.S. in the years 2005, 2010, where we consumed a lot of water, large oil companies in the U.S., who today took over this activity, we went from 10% to a lot of recycling, of 80%, 90% of recycling.
There's been a great deal of progress and as well in the dimension of the rare resources and their use. We have made the choice not to be a major actor because we are not in the U.S., and we have other skills in other departments. Just to give, there's an indication on the screen.
shale is a very small part of our turnover, this is not really a subject to be discussed. Number three, maybe?
Hello. Thank you for this presentation. I wanted to ask you a question about the evolution of shareholding, TotalEnergies shareholding over the year, and how this shareholding has evolved globally.
It has evolved. There's a bit more individual shareholdings in figures. Now, for the institutional shareholdings, it's transferred from Europe to North America. We went from 37% to 46% institutional shareholders in North America, They can see very well the difference between the valorization of the oil and gas companies in the Europe and in the U.S.
They are betting on the fact that our action, at some point, should rise because we've been very low for the three majors in Europe, and it's a much higher in the U.S. That's what they're looking at. Inversely, this is also our shareholding in Europe and continental Europe. Proportionally, it went down, probably because of the policy. We've had a question on taxonomy that is really pushing investors to institutional shareholders to remain in their position, but there's no flow from Europe. That's not significant, although there are a lot of activity on the North American side. This is just to sum up the main evolutions here. Question number seven?
Yes. Good morning, Mr. Pouyanné. I'm Antoine. I'm a student in political sciences. My question is the following: Do the geopolitical difficulties in the Middle East and in Africa threaten TotalEnergies' activities? If yes, what are the measures taken in order to fight against those?
The geopolitical aspects I cannot master, unfortunately, to be quite honest. We can avoid, of course, even if we are not the ones to decide in oil and gas. Yes, we are living on a planet where there's a geopolitical instability that is very important. We have, of course, been victims of it also. We saw the impacts with the war, Russian war, and what I can answer is the diversification of this risk. We cannot put all your eggs in the same basket, and our major positions are in Abu Dhabi, in the Emirates, the United Emirates, in Qatar, places where there is stability. We will take a position in Iraq. It is a little more complex.
When the risks are more important, we need higher profitability, of course. It's a question of our arbitration. What I believe is that the answer is that this risk exists. We need to be aware of it. We need to master the capitals exposed in the different countries, and therefore diversifying our portfolio. I'd like to add that, by the way, concerning geopolitical risk, for new renewable energies, they're everywhere. This leads us to rebalance our strategy and go towards countries that are less risky. When I said less Russia, more Americas, it's true, we have a vision. We're going back to the United States and really stepping there with both feet anchored because gas, oil, renewable energies as well.
These are developments we have in Europe, in electricity, because we are developing first and foremost in liberal markets. This leads us to a rebalancing, a global rebalancing of the company's portfolio, even if it still needs to be developed further. I'll take number one. One to four, then I will stop.
Hello. For Saft, was the company able to produce batteries with very high capacity in order to tackle the consumption peaks during the wintertime, in order to avoid to create new plants that will be more costly and probably a little more polluting? Secondly, in terms of biogas, I know that Patrick Pouyanné said that the price of biogas currently is higher than methane, classic methane, which means that a company as Air Liquide is not encouraged to go into hydrogen thanks to biogas. Thank you.
Biogas is a costly energy indeed. Since gas increased tremendously in Europe, it doesn't mean its cost is independent from the price of gas, but it's an energy that is a problem in terms of to increase volume. We inaugurated the biggest unit of biogas in France, near Lacq. We see a possible economy scales, EUR 120, EUR 150 per MW hour. There is a demand, but it not necessarily to go into produce hydrogen. I understand this biogenic gas you're mentioning, but in the end, the chains will be very costly, and we won't have enough volume in order to achieve it.
... for Saft, big batteries, high-capacity batteries, we can build ones four hours, usually of storage for a day. Just to summarize, with batteries we installed, that's for four hours. You store it for four hours. We store energy when there's sun or a lot of wind, and then we release it at night. This is what we do. It is a path for the future, of course, but Saft is engaged in it, and electric vehicles can help us to improve in these new technologies. It is very clear. I'm still optimistic for batteries because there are billions invested everywhere to improve the batteries, and the storage of the energy in service stations also will be helped.
To answer to your questions, we wouldn't be able to work during a winter we had if we didn't. I'll take number two now.
Thank you, Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good morning. Pascal Magnez, a new TotalEnergies shareholder, detrimental to another European company. My question is, I'd like to understand your determination to supply enough e-fuels to ensure growth for air transport. Mr. McInnes, during the General Assembly of Safran, underline your determining role for them, and indeed, saying you would do what is necessary and the determining role of TotalEnergies for e-fuels. This growth of the air aviation market is true for the international aspect as well. Yes, in energy, it's not only a question of asking something to have it the next day.
I'm delighted that demand is expressed, and it is expressed in a very recent manner. First of all, because governments are implementing mandates that impose a certain percentage of incorporation. I'm gonna answer to Ross. Ross is not the one who buys my e-fuels, but I'd like to be sure that his colleague and head of Air France is ready to pay the price for the e-fuels. Everybody wants volumes. We need to look at the bill. E-fuels today, you need to know, these are major projects. To produce e-fuel volumes of industrial size, you need to have a refinery. This is billions, so we are going to commit. The price, if kerosene today is between $1,000 per ton and $500 or it would, kerosene would be, it would be $5,000-$10,000.
How can you have 10%, 20%? We'll see. I'm delighted in any case because it's the example I used. I didn't do it on purpose, companies as Airbus, I had a discussion with Guillaume Faury, with Safran. We are going to go to the fair at Le Bourget in Paris with Safran's head, we are going to have a workshop together at the fair. We are committing. It depends. We'll see. For our engineers in renewable energies, it's a means for us. We did it in La Mède. We have, it's ongoing at Grandpuits. We are ramping up, the objective is to reuse existing units. This is for e-fuels. It's a new word.
We need to be careful because e-fuel is for everyone is CO2 plus hydrogen, and this is not something that you find easily around you in nature. If we take the idea of biogenic gas, e-fuel has become, since there were German manufacturers that were trendy for aviation, we'll need liquids, and either we are able to make them with biomass, this is the privileged pathway, but we are going to be confronted to an obstacle, which are raw materials, then we'll have to move to e-fuels. The regulations in Europe that are being adopted plan in 2025 to have 2%. This will incentivize producers we are to invest, and we just need to agree first with our clients on the price at which this will be paid for. I think number four.
Hello. I'm representing only myself. My question is simple. A few years back, in Morocco, huge fields were covered in solar panels. Morocco had put a lot of hope into this. Now there's a great deception, a great disappointment. My question is simple: Is solar and wind energy still profitable in comparison to traditional energies?
There was a great project, Desertec, what is clear is that, again, it is a renewable energy. They are intermittent. What you want in the end is electricity, power that's present all the time, that's available all the time. Where it becomes difficult is that... That's the first point I wanted to make. On the debate on the price of power-
... There's something that's always a bit biased. It's either we consider the price of solar and wind in a marginal cost of a power system that's working, so the network is working, functional. In France, you have nuclear power plants, gas plants, and you add on to that solar and wind systems. There you can see that the cost is very low because you take advantage of a reliability that's provided by other means. Now, if you start from a project that has no other means, where you need to construct the infrastructure, because in Morocco, you need to also create the pipelines, the cables, and here you can see that the costs are not the same, and you only have intermittent supply, or we need huge batteries.
You need to combine means, and this is why the debate is quite complicated. It is the complicated debate because it is not as efficient, but at the same time, it's necessary because we need to decarbonize our energy, and this is where the scientists are right. Maybe there's a debate on the rhythm, on the speed of how we reach this, but there's no debate on the goal that we need to reach. We need to continue to invest, and we are currently looking into a big project in Morocco on the longer term, wind and sun, wind and solar. A combination of both is a good idea because you need there's more wind in the night and sun in the day.
The combination of both makes us look at a project in North Africa of export towards the continent, the European continent. We took over this idea with other investors to check if we could combine what we've done, because sometimes when the projects start too soon, we're trying to find if there is a profitable way. At the moment, and we have to highlight it, by the fact that Europe, deeply with the end of Russian gas, has entered a more expensive energy phase structurally. I do not believe that Europe will ever be as dependent on Russia as it was before. This opens new horizons, including on this type of new project. I think we have tried to answer.
I've taken a bit more time because last year I was frustrated not to be able to answer your questions because I answered Jean-Pierre in video. This year, we are lucky enough, and I'm really want to thank you again to be brave enough to go and come and meet us here in Salle Pleyel. Thank you again to all participants for the quality of their questions and the mutual respect that everybody showed during this meeting. I am very satisfied. I think it's really like this, that a general assembly should be held with a collective progress on complex subject matters, as we have mentioned today, but that are at the heart of the debate in the society. I'll finish this part, and we'll go over to the last part, which is the voting of the resolutions.
I think we will receive a sheet. I'd like to let you know that according to what has been decided by the centralized assembly, the shareholders have represented and expressed their correspondence of 1 billion actions with the right of voting with the present assembly. Therefore, there is a number of votes allowed, including double votes. The number of actions that have the right to vote present and represented during the assembly have to have a quorum that's over one-fourth of these actions. Therefore, this allows us to go over to the vote of resolutions for the general, ordinary, and extraordinary assembly.
I'd like to highlight that the shareholders who have voted before the assembly are 1 billion, 700 billion, and they are attached to the same amount of rights to vote. These are 2 million rights of vote about that will be expressed during this assembly. I'd like to remind you that the vote will be done on an electronic tablet that you have been handed over, and here is a video to explain you how to use it. To vote on the resolutions of the General Assembly, a tablet has been passed over to you. It is strictly personal, only for you, and will only be used for this assembly. When the announcement of a resolution vote is made, there will be a window opening on your tablet, even if this tablet is off. To vote, it's very simple.
Press on the button that is the answer of your choice, for, abstention, or against. Click on OK to validate your choice before the end of the voting time. Once your vote validated, you cannot modify it anymore. Thank you for handing back the tablets as you leave the room. The text of the Resolutions are on pages 31 - 41 on the convocation letter. I think we shouldn't read them all aloud. Each Resolution will be identified by its number, and I'll resume it and summarize it. The Resolutions 1- 14, as well as Resolution A, not agreed by the council of directors, is the competence of the General Ordinary Assembly and needs to collect a majority of expressed votes to be adopted.
The Resolution 15- 17 are the competence of the general extraordinary assembly, need to collect the majority of two-thirds of the expressed votes to be adopted. First resolution. The first resolution is to approve the social financial account for TotalEnergies SE for the exercise 2022, which have a benefit for the mother company of EUR 7,836 million. The vote is now open. The vote is now closed. The resolution is adopted. Second resolution, approval of the consolidated accounts for the financial year 2022, with a net benefit by TotalEnergies of $20.5 billion. The vote is now open. The vote is now closed. This is also adopted nearly unanimously. The third resolution, the determination of the allocation of the results of TotalEnergies SE.
It is proposed to allocate a dividend per action of EUR 3.81 for the exercise 2022, given the exceptional amount of EUR 1 per action of December 2022, and three accounts of EUR 0.69, and the distribution during the financial year 2022. This would be of EUR 0.74 paid in cash by the 3rd of July, 2023. The vote is now open. The election is now closed. This is nearly 100%. Thank you. The resolution is now adopted. The 4th resolution is to authorize your board of directors to ensure the buyback and action divestment of the company in the legal dispositions in place and according to the modalities on the screen.
This would be for a time of 18 months from this assembly. The vote is now open.
The vote is now closed.
The resolution is adopted. A fifth resolution is to approve the special report of the auditor on the Article L 225 and 38 of the Code de commerce in France mention no new convention or agreement. The vote is now open.
The vote is now closed.
The resolution is adopted. Sixth resolution, the renewal of the mandate as a director of Madame Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette for a length of three years. The vote is now open.
The vote is now closed.
Thank you, Marie-Christine. Your mandate is renewed. The resolution is adopted. Seventh resolution, the renewal of the mandate as director of Monsieur Mark Cutifani for a length of three years. The vote is now open.
The vote is now closed.
The resolution is adopted.
The resolution is now adopted. The eighth resolution is the nomination of Mr. Dierk Paskert as director for a time of three years. The vote is now open. The vote is now closed.
99%. Welcome to the board. The resolution is adopted.
The resolution is adopted. The ninth resolution is the nomination as of Madam Anelise Lara as director for a time of three years. Vote is now open. The vote is now closed. Congratulations, Anelise, welcome to the board of directors of TotalEnergies. The resolution is adopted. I think we can have a round of applause. The tenth resolution is about the approval of the compensations of the corporate offices mentioned in the Article 22-10-9 of the Code de commerce. The vote is now open. The vote is now closed. The resolution is adopted.
The eleventh resolution is to fix the amount of compensation annual and global of the directors at EUR 1,950,000 , and approve the policy that will be applied to the directors of the company presented by the report on the government of company figured in the universal document of the company. The board highlights that the spread and repartition of the compensation of directors remain the same. The vote is now open. The vote is now closed. The resolution is adopted.
The 12th resolution has for purpose to approve fixed elements, variable and exceptional, composing the total remuneration or compensation and all, and advantages during the fiscal year 2022, or attributed during this exercise to the CEO of your company. They are presented in the report on the company government, that is in the universal document and of your company. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. I thank you. 13th resolution's purpose is to approve the policy for compensation of the CEO, as presented in the report on the company government, governance, that is in the universal registration document. The vote is now open.
Le scrutin est clos.
Vote is closed. The resolution is adopted, 92.83% of the votes. 14th resolution has a purpose to offer in the framework of a consultative vote, to give a favorable opinion on the Sustainability & Climate – 2023 Progress Report. This report gives account of the progress achieved in the implementation of the company's strategy in terms of sustainable development and the energy transition towards carbon neutrality and objectives for 2030. It completes this ambition. The vote is open.
Le scrutin est clos.
Vote is closed. 89% of support. This is a very high support. I'd like to thank you very much after the quality debate that was held. 15th resolution's purpose is to authorize your board of directors to proceed to share attribution of the company for employees and social in the company, people in the company. The vote is open.
Le-
The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. The 16th resolution is to give delegation of competence to the board of directors to proceed to increases of capital reserve to employees and subscribers of the shareholder plan, retirement plan of the group. The vote is open. The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted. 17th resolution's purpose is to submit to your approval the suppression of dual votes planned by Article 18 on companies, on the company status, in order at the end of the assembly, for each share to give right and title to one vote. The vote is open. The vote is closed. Here we are. The company is almost unanimously becoming a company where one share becomes one voice or one vote. Thank you for those who supported this resolution and to the employees who were the main ones concerned.
Once again, as I said in my speech, it is also the result of an efficient social discussion. Thank you. Resolution A, non-approved by the board. This resolution was given by a shareholder group. It invites the board to align its objective to reduce its emissions by 2030, including greenhouse emissions for Scope 3, with the Paris Agreement on climate. The position of your board is detailed on pages 39- 41 and was recalled by the president. The board decided not to agree on this resolution and invites you to vote against. Votes are open. Votes is closed. The resolution is rejected. This concludes to our votes on all of the resolutions, and I will now invite you to as to give back the little tablets and headsets at the entry of the room, and I am delighted once again.
A great thank you for the quality of the discussions we had today. The hostesses are there for you to give you the right directions. The results with all the details will be online on our TotalEnergies.com website in the General Assembly for 2023. The dates of our next meetings are mentioned on screen, and our next General Assembly is set for Friday, May 24th, 2024, and most probably it will be held at our headquarters in La Défense, in order not to mobilize the police forces and to close down a whole neighborhood, as was necessary this year. A great thank you for your participation and for the votes that followed the recommendations very largely. I thank the board of directors and see you very soon. Thank you.