Iron ore mining magnate Andrew Forrest believes Anthony Albanese will adopt much stronger climate change policies than he campaigned on to win office.
Australia’s richest billionaire, widely known as ‘Twiggy‘, made the comments to Bloomberg Television while attending the annual gathering of the global elite hosted by the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos.
‘Our (Australia’s) climate policy has been frankly embarrassing,’ Mr Forrest said.
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest (centre) here seen at a press conference flanked by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (left) and Deputy Premier Steven Miles (right) predicts that federal Labor will bring in strong climate change policies now in office
‘I think the new government will pivot towards making Australia a global climate champion, which it should have been years and years ago.
‘Their campaign to be elected was as a really small target but now that they’re actually in government, and quite decisively, I think they’ll be much more ambitious.
‘And so they should be — because compared to the rest of the world, Australia’s been lagging.’
Andrew Forrest (right) talks with a worker at a Queensland plant that his company Fortescue Metals is partnering with to develop hydrogen as an example of green energy
Mr Forrest, 60, said he would like to see Australia aiming for a greenhouse emissions reduction of 50 or 60 per cent by 2030, a step up from Labor’s stated goal of reducing emissions by 43 per cent.
He pledged that his company, Fortescue Metals Group, would lead the way in the iron ore sector and other major companies such as Rio Tinto and BHP were enthusiastic about following the lead.
‘We intend as a company to be down by 100 per cent by 2030,’ Mr Forrest said.
Mr Forrest said he had stepped into the role of executive chairman to ensure Fortescue goes green with a particular emphasis on developing new forms of energy, such as green hydrogen.
‘Green steel, green iron, green fertilisers, green cement, it’s to set the example for the huge commercial and industrial company, highly profitable and getting more profitable because we are going green,’ he said.
A Hyundai Nexo Hydrogen vehicle is filled with hydrogen, an energy source Andrew Forrest has strongly backed as a way to reduce Australia’s reliance on fossil fuels and cut emissions
Mr Forrest was particularly scathing of what he called ‘greenwashing’ – the practice of making false or exaggerated claims of being environmentally friendly.
He call for an end to ‘the rubbish, the people who spend the fortunes on advertising when in fact all they are doing is putting out more and more pollution’.
‘When you hear that word clean you can be assured it is greenwashing,’ Mr Forrest said.
‘You’ve heard of clean coal, you’ve heard of cancer-free tobacco, get really hard on the greenwashing.
‘Greenwashing is our biggest risk because so many companies out there are saying one thing to shareholders and the public are doing precisely another to their own profit and loss.’
Andrew Forrest’s fortune is estimated to be $27billion mainly flowing from iron ore mining, a sector he says his company Fortescue is leading the way in being more climate friendly
Although he did not name any particular ‘greenwashers’ in the interview, Mr Forrest’s previous claims that Australia’s oil and gas industry is greenwashing have drawn stiff some stiff rebuke.
State Gas Executive Chairman Richard Cottee, a towering figure in Queensland’s coal-seam gas industry, told The Australian newspaper Mr Forrest needed to back up his accusation with facts because otherwise it was like being a school bully.
In pushing green hydrogen last last year, Mr Forrest was himself accused of greenwashing.
‘You’re over-inflating the use-case for hydrogen for personal gain, even if it comes at the cost of worse emissions and under-consideration of alternatives,’ climate analyst Ketan Joshi said.
‘You’re also building fossil fuel infrastructure, which is really bad.’
Mr Forrest, who is the major shareholder of Fortescue as well being the company’s executive chair and chair, has amassed a net worth of approximately $27.25billion, according to last year’s Australian Financial Review’s Rich List.