The Church of England has warned TotalEnergies they would divest their shares, if the company continues to fail to cut business ties with Russia.

The energy giant has so far condemned Russia's actions, but has not withdrawn from Russia as peers BP and Shell have done. 

In a joint letter, the Church of England's Pensions Board and the manager of the church's investment fund wrote to the French company's chief executive Patrick Pouyanne urging for immediate action to take place, or they would reconsider their shareholding in the company. 

It is not clear how large a stake, the two funds hold in TotalEnergies. It's understood the Church Commissioners manage a total £9.2bn investment fund, while the pensions board oversees a fund worth £3.7bn.

Its largest holdings, are in companies such as Meta (formerly Facebook), Amazon, Google's parent company Alphabet and Samsung.

Speaking to The Times, the church said it had made the decision to support "the sanctions announced by the UK and other governments."

Last month, the Church of England ditched all £20 million of its investments in Russian companies, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Two French NGO's are planning to take legal action to TotalEnergies arguing possible human right abuses, unless it withdraws from Russia.