Derek Neldner, CEO and Group Head, RBC Capital Markets sits down with Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO, TotalEnergies SE to discuss the company’s recent name change and its bold new climate strategy to reach Net Zero emissions by 2050.
Solving the Sustainability Conundrum
Energy players are currently facing an existential dilemma. “You have a growing global population requiring more and more energy, and, at the same time, the need to lower CO2 emissions. It’s a challenge we need to tackle,” Patrick Pouyanné, who is at the helm of the world’s fourth largest oil company, said. “Last year, we accelerated our investments in renewables, but the perception of the company was still ‘Total equates oil’. At the board level, we wanted to really transform into an energy company.” Hence the new name, TotalEnergies, and the increasing pace of investments in lower emission energies, especially in the most energy-hungry parts of the world. “In the past three years, we have invested US$3 billion in natural gas, and renewable, solar, energies in India. Currently the population stands at about 1.5 billion, but it is expected to reach 2 or 3 billion in the years ahead and we need to be prepared.”
The Opportunities of Energy Transition
Despite the decline in oil prices last year, TotalEnergies witnessed positive trends. “Two types of energies kept increasing - renewable electricity, up by 13% last year, and liquified natural gas (LNG) - up 3%, driven by China and India, despite the economic slowdown. This was good news for TotalEnergies, since they are the two pillars of our growth,” Pouyanné stressed. The move from Total to TotalEnergies is to build on this momentum and participate in the many opportunities offered by the energy transition. The energy giant aims to become one of the top five renewables producers by 2030 - whilst maintaining investor returns. “Last year, for instance, we bought the largest solar developer in India. We invested US$2 billion and the value of the shares today is about $5 billion.” As part of its strategy to reach Net Zero emissions by 2050 or earlier, TotalEnergies has a clear strategy between now and 2030. “We’ll see no more growth in oil, even declining sales of oil products, but we’ll also maintain our growth overall, with the ambition to produce a third more energy – half coming from LNG, half from electricity.”
A holistic approach to sustainability
To create a culture of sustainability and reach its goals, TotalEnergies has included CO2 emissions targets in all the compensation packages. “We have also created a team of CO2 fighters with 500 big ideas to reduce emissions at no costs, just by managing things differently,” Pouyanné stated. The company will also be recruiting 50 renewable business developers in 50 different countries to identify new opportunities and leverage its worldwide global presence. “We have committed that the renewables investment we have done have a return on equity of about 10%. We need to be smart,” he concluded.
Derek Neldner
CEO and Group Head of RBC Capital Markets
Derek Neldner is CEO and Group Head of RBC Capital Markets and is a member of RBC’s Group Executive. Derek has global oversight of the firm and, along with the Capital Markets Operating Committee, sets the growth strategy for RBC’s Corporate & Investment Banking and Global Markets business activities worldwide. Together with other members of Group Executive, Derek is also responsible for setting the overall strategic direction of RBC.
Derek joined RBC in 1995 and has held a broad array of responsibilities across the firm and served as Global Head of Investment Banking prior to his current role. He has significant experience across all aspects of investment banking including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financing, and he continues to provide senior coverage and advice to a number of the firm’s most significant clients.
Derek has a longstanding commitment to philanthropy and giving back to the community. In addition to his role on the Business Advisory Counsel for the University of Alberta, School of Business, he also currently volunteers with a variety of charitable organizations including serving as a member of the 2023 United Way Campaign Cabinet as Finance Sector Chair and Board Member of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) Foundation.
Derek holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance from the University of Alberta and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), as designated by the CFA Institute. Derek is married with four children and lives in Toronto, Canada.
Patrick Pouyanné
Chairman and CEO, TotalEnergies SE
A graduate of École Polytechnique and a Chief Engineer of France’s Corps des Mines, Mr. Pouyanné held, between 1989 and 1996, various administrative positions in the Ministry of Industry and other cabinet positions (technical advisor to the Prime Minister – Édouard Balladur – in the fields of the Environment and Industry from 1993 to 1995, Chief of staff for the Minister for Information and Aerospace Technologies – François Fillon – from 1995 to 1996). In January 1997, he joined TOTAL’s Exploration & Production division, first as Chief Administrative Officer in Angola, before becoming Group representative in Qatar and President of the Exploration and Production subsidiary in that country in 1999. In August 2002, he was appointed President, Finance, Economy and IT for Exploration & Production. In January 2006, he became Senior Vice President, Strategy, Business Development and R&D in Exploration & Production and was appointed a member of the Group’s Management Committee in May 2006. In March 2011, Mr. Pouyanné was appointed Deputy General Manager, Chemicals, and Deputy General Manager, Petrochemicals. In January 2012, he became President, Refining & Chemicals and a member of the Group’s Executive Committee.
On October 22, 2014, he became Chief Executive Officer of TOTAL S.A. and Chairman of the Group’s Executive Committee. On May 29, 2015, he was appointed by the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting as director of TOTAL S.A. for a three-year term. The Board of Directors of TOTAL appointed him as Chairman of the Board of Directors as of December 19, 2015. Mr. Pouyanné thus became the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TOTAL S.A. Following the renewal of Mr. Pouyanné's directorship at the Shareholders' Meeting on June 1, 2018 for a three-year period, the Board of Directors renewed Mr. Pouyanné's term of office as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for a period equal to that of his directorship. Mr. Pouyanné is also the Chairman of the Association United Way - L'Alliance since June 2018, having accepted this office as TOTAL S.A.'s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Ecole Polytechnique (since September 2018), of the Institut Polytechnique of Paris (since September 2019) and of the Association Française des Entreprises Privées (French Association of private companies) (since 2015).
