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  Expedition to the North Pole: French Oil Giant to Measure Arctic Melt

Expedition to the North Pole French Oil Giant to Measure Arctic Melt

By Ansbert Kneip

Part 4: 'A Company Like Ours Must Live up to Its Responsibilities'

Part of the reason might be on display right outside Dalibard's office window. His view potentially encompasses all of Paris, but today the city is shrouded in smog, and one can see only about as far as one or two bridges across the Seine River.

When he begins to speak, his words are what one would expect to hear from a PR director at a major corporation. "Naturally, a company like ours must live up to its responsibilities," he says, promptly pointing out Total's "diverse activities" and adding: "We aren't exactly the first ones to discover the issue of the environment."

He goes on to describe his company's commitment to minimizing its CO2 emissions. For example, he says, Total no longer burns off natural gas, a by-product of oil production, but pumps it back into the oil fields.

According to Dalibard, there could also be advantages to an Arctic ice melt. Trade routes to Asia, for example, would be shortened significantly since ships could sail quickly through the Arctic Sea instead of having to take the longer route through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean. "So much less CO2!" he exclaims.

On the other hand, Etienne has told him that the absence of large expanses of white Arctic ice would mean less solar radiation would be reflected back into space. The earth would become even warmer, and the new route to Asia could become impassable as storms become more severe following substantial temperature change.

A few years ago, says Dalibard, Total and other major corporations came to the conclusion that focusing on short-term benefits is ultimately counterproductive. They have realized that the future of the industry, for example, does not depend on selling customers large amounts of energy within a short period of time, but instead on making that time window last as long as possible. Because resources are finite, it makes sense to invest in alternative energy sources, promote energy conservation and pay more attention to the environment. "This is also something our customers are demanding from us," he says.

Coming from a company, that sort of language sounds like propaganda straight from the corporate communications office. But having someone like Jean-Louis Etienne flying under the Total logo automatically raises the company's credibility.

This isn't the first time Etienne has received funding from the oil industry. During his first polar expedition 20 years ago, he wore the logo of French oil company Elf on his parka. The company apparently figured that consumers would identify the adventurer's strength and vigor with its gasoline brand. Elf, part of Total today, is involved in Formula 1 car racing. "Not particularly CO2-friendly," says Dalibard, laughing.

Total, the parent company, prefers to benefit from Etienne's image as a protector of the environment. The Total Pole Airship will deliver images of his company's logo suspended above a pristine, white, exotic and endangered landscape. The images promise to be as spectacular as they are effective.

"You can't possibly believe," says Dalibard, "that we're doing this for purely philanthropic reasons." In fact, Total supports a large number of smaller projects through its own foundation.

"This here," he says, pointing to the airship model, "this here is a carefully planned partnership. It's an investment."

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

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