The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, described the Russian attack on Ukraine as an “act of great evil”.
The Church of England is putting pressure on Total Energy over its decision not to cut business ties with Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
The two church investment funds said they would reconsider their stake in the French energy giant.
The two funds also called on the company to urgently review its decision.
The “Total Energies” had condemned the Russian aggression, but it did not follow the approach of “BP” and “Shell”, which withdrew from Russia.
Total Energy did not respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear how much stake the Church of England Pensions Board and the Church Commissioners Investment Fund had in Total Energy. They did not respond to requests for comment on this matter.
In a joint letter to Total Energy’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, the two funds noted that the company had taken an approach at odds with actions taken by many of its peers.
And last month, the Church Pension Board and the Church Commissioners Investment Fund withdrew investments worth 20 million pounds in Russian companies, and banned any further investments in the country.
In a statement to The Times, the church said it had taken the step “in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine and in support of the sanctions announced by the United Kingdom and other governments”.
Church commissioners manage a £9.2 billion investment fund, while the Pension Board oversees a £3.7 billion fund.
In February, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said Russia’s “horrific and unprovoked attack on Ukraine is an act of great evil”.
The church’s letter to Total Energy comes after two French NGOs – France’s Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth – said they intend to take legal action against the oil giant over potential human rights abuses unless the company cuts business ties with Russia.
Documents belonging to Total Energy showed that Russia represented 24 percent of the company’s reserves and 17 percent of its joint production of oil and gas in 2020.
Clearway Capital also wrote a letter to Total Energy’s board of directors asking it to end its operations in Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.