Among the leaders of emissions-heavy businesses, Andrew Forrest, the outspoken Australian billionaire famous for his iron ore mining riches, became a unique figure in the high-stakes environment of Davos.
Regarded as a "climate evangelist," Forrest fervently promotes Fortescue's decarbonization while pressuring his industrial peers to give up fossil fuels.
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| Climate evangelist' is how some have described Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest. Pictured by AFP/Fabrie COFFRINI [AFP] |
Reiterating his support for environmental causes, Forrest a frequent participant at the World Economic Forum engaged in a lively discussion about the global energy transition with an oil CEO.
As part of its ambitious goals, Fortescue will transition all of its energy-intensive mining operations which currently run on natural gas and diesel to renewable electricity by 2030.
Forrest is also making bold investments in green hydrogen initiatives, allocating billions to the use of renewable energy sources to produce this clean fuel.
Just last week, Forrest committed to providing Australia with 14 gigawatts of clean energy by the end of the decade through his solar and wind company, Squadron Energy.
That's enough energy to power six million households. Critics draw attention to the irony that Forrest's riches, which came from his mining operations, caused him to emit more greenhouse gases in a single year 2.5 million metric tons than a small Pacific island.
Forrest owns up to his responsibility, saying, "I burn a billion liters of diesel a year." Nevertheless, he sets himself apart from the thousand industrialists that consume the majority of the world's oil and gas, working to put into place comprehensive economic strategies that remove fossil fuels from his supply chain. He says that every executive should work toward this together.
The oil and gas business is singled out by Forrest for his most severe condemnation, branding it a distributor of "poison" and accusing it of putting the world in a dangerous "death race."
"When will you allow your customers to stop burning fossil fuels?" is his scathing query to oil bosses. He maintains that it is a task that they must accept honestly and avoid portraying the audience as ignorant.
Notably, Forrest took a strong stand against the oil and gas business and in favor of a quick phase-out of fossil fuels during the recent COP28 meeting in Dubai.
This effort resulted in an agreement to move away from fossil fuels being made for the entire summit.
Forrest and Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub engaged in a heated discussion at Davos over the contribution of the fossil fuel industry to the energy transition.
Hollub stressed the industry's ongoing reliance on fossil fuels for road haulage, shipping, and aviation, while Forrest attacked the industry for what he saw as its unfair practices.
Climate activists have praised Forrest's initiative despite their reservations about his belief in hydrogen as the "miracle molecule."
The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative's Global Engagement Director, Harjeet Singh, praised Forrest for his decisiveness in stopping the growth of fossil fuels and his outspoken condemnation of oil firms.
Singh exhorts more corporate executives to take a similar stance and make meaningful investments in practical ways to deal with the severity of the climate emergency.
Given the difficulties of producing green hydrogen in large quantities high costs and insufficient infrastructure Forrest's faith in its potential is met with skepticism.
According to a new analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2030, only 7% of internationally declared projects to manufacture hydrogen from renewable sources are likely to come to fruition.
Although billionaires like Forrest are commended by IEA Chief Fatih Birol for their support of a clean energy future, he cautions against having too high expectations.
While he notes that green hydrogen has a place in the future clean energy mix, he also stresses the importance of realistically evaluating its present drawbacks.