34 - Integrating Climate into our Strategy A CONVERSATION WITH PHILIPPE BAPTISTE Senior Vice President, Scientific Development at Total FRANÇOIS BADOUAL Chief Executive Officer, Total Energy Ventures “Developing new types of collaboration to spur innovation” Total has aligned its vision of the future with the 2°C scenario. What are the main challenges involved in terms of innovation and R&D? Philippe Baptiste Access to affordable energy unlocks development for all. Our energy systems must continue to meet this basic need while transforming themselves to reduce their climate impact. As a developer of renewable energies, our R&D requirements are substantial, ranging from their production and storage to managing their variability. Another of our challenges is mitigating the climate impact of oil and gas. In the short term, improving energy efficiency is unquestionably one of the key ways for us to do this. But we also need to find solutions that will allow us to continue to use oil and gas, by reducing or even offsetting their carbon footprint. This is a major global issue, because these sources of energy offer unequaled advantages, particularly in terms of energy content, easy storage and cost competitiveness. That’s why we must increase our R&D investments in carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) technologies. What’s clear today is that there isn’t just one energy pathway for the future, but many. Over the past 10 years, not only have we stepped up our R&D efforts, we have also added more fundamental research to support our applied research. We are also more able Philippe Baptiste to tap into the innovation capabilities of startups through Total Energy Ventures (TEV). François Badoual Innovation is not just the prerogative of big companies, academics and major R&D programs. Being an innovative company today means being open to new types of collaboration with start-ups and being inspired by their agility, freedom and boldness. Does TEV allow you to get the jump on disruption? FB Our focus is increasingly turning to start-ups whose disruptive innovations can potentially become new growth drivers. Our value-added lies in helping them speed up the industrial and commercial rollout of their ideas. Since 2009, we have invested USD 150 million in 25 startups. Twenty-one are still active in our portfolio and represent a host of opportunities for the future. Our development capital activities make it possible to discern trends. For example, as early as 2005, growing global climate concerns spurred the emergence of a certain number of cleantech solutions, first in the biotech sector, and now, over the past four years, in the energy storage sector. Our activities can give us a head start and allow us to invest in promising technologies very early on.