Twiggy Forrest blasts ‘dictators, facists’ in fossil fuel industry

Australia’s second richest man has come out swinging on a new podcast, taking aim at fossil fuel “scaremongering” and “fake” carbon credits.

Australian mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest has slammed “dictators, fascists and oligarchs” controlling the world’s fossil fuel industry, who he claims use AI-driven bots to stoke fear about the transition to green energy.

Dr Forrest, founder of $58 billion metal mining company Fortescue, has also doubled down on recent criticism of net zero targets and labelled the majority of carbon credit schemes as “fake”.

Speaking on an episode of investing podcast Equity Mates, to be released on Tuesday, Australia’s second-richest person said the narrative that fossils fuels were a “reliable friend” for the globe’s energy future was “bulls***”.

“That is such rubbish. I mean that’s there’s clever players in there,” Dr Forrest said.

“They’re called dictators, fascists, oligarchs who send out bots all over the world, AI-driven bots, to lace up messages saying ‘you’ve got to stay with the oil and gas because, you know, your energy costs are going to go up and you standard living is going to go down’.

Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest with the hosts of Equity Mates, Alen Renehan (left) and Bryce Leske. Picture: Supplied

“And ‘my God, save yourself. Stick with fossil fuel’.

“It’s just rubbish. The cheapest form of energy on earth is renewable.”

Much of the world’s oil reserves are held by OPEC members, which includes Russia, Brazil and several nations in the Middle East.

Australia is among the biggest exporters of coal on the planet – alongside Indonesia – and shipped out $127.4 billion worth of coal in the 2022-23 financial year.

The fossil fuel supplied 62.6 per cent of electricity to Australia’s electricity market in that same period, according to the Minerals Council of Australia.

Research from Climate Analytics found Australia’s coal and gas exports were responsible for 1.15 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2023.

Andrew Forrest at the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

In a scathing take-down of the industry, Dr Forrest said his company was focused on achieving “real zero” emissions targets and questioned the effectiveness of net zero.

Net zero – which was originally framed as ending almost all fossil fuel use – refers to a goal of balancing both greenhouse emissions outputs and the amount being taken out of the atmosphere.

“Who put the word ‘net’ into net zero?” Dr Forrest said. “I know … it was the fossil fuel sector (that) jammed it in.

“Otherwise they weren’t going to sign up to anything. Just because they’re cooking the planet didn’t mean they had to have a conscience.”

Database Net Zero Tracker has found 60 per cent of the world’s 2000 largest companies have net zero targets covering about $45 trillion in revenue.

But its analysis found only 61 of those plans met all integrity criteria.

Fossil fuels made up the majority of Australia’s energy usage. Picture: Guillem Sartorio/AFP

Many major companies have also been buying carbon offsets to meet emissions targets instead of cutting fossil fuel usage.

A study by the University of Technology Sydney’s Institute for Sustainable Futures this year found 10 of Australia’s best-known corporations had no clear plans to stop using or supporting fossil fuels despite having net zero targets.

West Australian billionaire and philanthropist Dr Forrest said carbon credits were “probably doing more damage to the environment than good”, saying they had been devised by the finance world.

“We calculate that at least 85 per cent of carbon credits are fake,” he said.

“And banks love them because they trade in them. Financial institutions love them because they trade and they invented the bloody things for the oil and gas sector.

“The Oil and gas sector loved them because it means they can go ‘net zero barrel of oil’. That means they’re not changing a thing.”

Dr Forrest meeting with the Fortescue workers. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sharon Smith

Dr Forrest has been one of the country’s most outspoken proponents of renewable energies, and his company has proposed projects to increase the uptake in green hydrogen.

Fortescue’s plans to produce 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030 were scaled back in July, when the company announced the job cuts of 700 people.

Dr Forrest at the time told the Australian Financial Review “we are not going to swim against the tide” during energy cost pressures linked to the war in Ukraine.

The Albanese government said it would press on with incorporating green hydrogen projects into plan to reach net zero by 2050.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said there were more than 50 Australian companies actively progressing renewable hydrogen developments.

“Green hydrogen will be one of the best ways Australia can decarbonise domestic heavy emitters and help develop robust low carbon manufacturing, and industry,” he said.

Originally published as Twiggy Forrest blasts ‘dictators, facists’ in fossil fuel industry