From bullying to billions

Andrew Forrest, now sixty-four, grew up on a remote cattle ranch in Western Australia. Bullied as a skinny child nicknamed Twiggy, he learned to stand up to powerful forces early.

Executive chairman of Fortescue

Forrest is executive chairman of seventeen billion dollar iron ore giant Fortescue, which he founded in two thousand three. His thirty-six point seven percent stake makes him one of the ten richest people in Australia, worth an estimated eleven point thirty-five billion dollars.

Transforming mining by 2030

Forrest's ambition is to transform Fortescue's mines, which produce nearly two hundred twenty-two million tons of iron ore a year, by virtually eliminating fossil fuels and setting a lightning-fast twenty thirty deadline to do so.

Real Zero versus net-zero

Forrest calls his plan Real Zero and dismisses many businesses' green strategies as smoke-and-mirror schemes that rely on offsets. He is shooting for much more significant results by tackling the full extent of climate change.

The stakes for mining

If Forrest succeeds, his experiment could ripple across other industries and distinguish Fortescue from mining titans BHP and Rio Tinto, both more than a century older and both of which have reined in their climate targets in recent years.

What success would prove

Forrest says if Fortescue removes all fossil fuels and maintains its position, that becomes the hallmark. Everything else is going to be easier than mining, he argues, so everyone else has no excuse.

“If we could stand up removing all fossil fuels, and if we could do that and maintain our position, then that becomes the hallmark. Everything else is going to be easier than mining. Everyone else has no excuse.”

From stockbroker to founder

Forrest was a Harley-Davidson-riding stockbroker in Sydney in the nineteen eighties. He founded mining company Anaconda Nickel in nineteen ninety-five before being pushed out in two thousand two amid financial strains.

Fortescue's perfect timing

Forrest founded Fortescue in two thousand three, determined to break BHP and Rio Tinto's grip on iron ore. He launched just as China was scrambling for iron ore to construct skyscrapers, cars, factories, and machines during the world's biggest building boom.

Daughter pushed him toward climate

Forrest says his daughter Sophia pushed him into thinking about climate change in the twenty tens because she was anxious about the planet's future. He opted for a two-pronged approach: cutting oil and gas use and researching green hydrogen.

A life-changing accident

In twenty fifteen, Forrest fell into a gorge while hiking in Western Australia, breaking his right leg so severely he wasn't sure he would walk again. Confined to a wheelchair for months, he studied climate change's threat to ocean life.

Six point two billion dollar investment

Going green in the Pilbara will require Fortescue to invest about six point two billion dollars by twenty thirty, much of it in building new solar and wind plants and battery storage facilities.

Monster haul trucks

In a deal worth billions of dollars, Fortescue ordered up to four hundred two hundred sixty-four-ton battery-powered monster-size haul trucks made in the U.S. and China, with tires that stand twelve feet tall. The first is scheduled to arrive this year.

Projected diesel savings

Fortescue claims it will save one billion dollars in diesel costs a year beginning in twenty thirty, about one-quarter of its operating expenses, in part by overhauling its trucks fleet and using electricity entirely from wind and solar.

Goldman Sachs downgrade

In July, Goldman Sachs downgraded Fortescue from neutral to sell. Its mining analyst Paul Young warned investors that Forrest's significant investment in eliminating fossil fuels has yet to generate returns.

Carbon emissions rose twenty-four percent

Consultancy Mandala Partners estimates that Fortescue's own carbon emissions shot up twenty-four percent between twenty twenty and twenty twenty-five. The company says this is a temporary surge from opening its Iron Bridge mine in the Pilbara in twenty twenty-three.

Oxford expert backs the plan

Ben Caldecott, director of Oxford University's Sustainable Finance Group, says Fortescue is producing an ambitious, transparent, and accountable climate transition plan with no attempt to obfuscate by buying carbon offsets. That is very unusual in the corporate world.

Journalist accuses Forrest of hypocrisy

Business journalist Joe Aston accused Forrest in the Australian Financial Review in June of portraying himself as a green messiah while accepting hundreds of millions of dollars a year in tax rebates on diesel the company consumes under Australia's tax system.

Ukraine's smart grid

Forrest is helping design a new energy grid for Ukraine, which has long depended on Soviet-era oil-powered plants that are easy targets for Russian missiles. A smart grid of small-scale renewable power stations is set to go online this winter.