Not everyone at EDF is comfortable with the NEOM project and EDF deal. A recent investigation by Radio France revealed that some staff considered it was out of synch with the company's ethical charter and commitments to promote low-carbon energy.

"The construction will generate an estimated 1.8 gigatonnes of CO2," Philip Oldfield of New South Wales University in Australia told Radio France. "That's the equivalent of four times the UK's annual emissions."

In December last year, EDF reaffirmed its commitment to the climate and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, which is needed to stay below 1.5C of warming as per the Paris Agreement. It also has its own charter on socially responsible practices.

At the end of 2022 the union carried out a survey among staff in the hydro-electric engineering department. "73 percent (of respondents) were against NEOM, saying the project was contrary to EDF's commitment to be socially responsible," Jean-Yves Ségura said.

Read the full story at rfi