Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest has issued a stark warning to global leaders, stating they risk political oblivion if they continue resisting the transition to renewable energy. His comments come just months after former US President Donald Trump dismissed climate change as "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world."
Davos Panel Delivers Hard-Edged Business Reality
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos during a panel titled 'How Can We Build Prosperity within Planetary Boundaries', the Fortescue chairman addressed delegates directly. Forrest emphasised that values "only matter when they're challenged," delivering what many interpreted as a veiled swipe at President Trump's stance.
"There is no scientific dispute that we're facing into the limits of our planet," Forrest declared. "Even the most selfish political leaders know that there are boundaries to everything."
Economic Realities Override Climate Beliefs
Forrest argued that leaders don't need to believe in climate change to accept the economic realities confronting them. "You might not believe in climate change," he said, "but you believe in economics, because if you don't believe in economics, you're gone at the next election. You are toasted."
The mining billionaire warned specifically about the consequences of turning away from renewable energy for political convenience. "The fact that in 2026 you turned away from renewable energy because the winds of politics blew your values over, please be reminded, the planet doesn't care. Your voters then won't care."
'Not Woke' But Business-Driven Position
Forrest was careful to position his argument as business-driven rather than ideological. "We are not woke. We are not senseless greenies," he stated. "We're hard-edged business people with an understanding of the planet."
He called directly on fellow leaders: "Presidents, prime ministers, fellow chief executives: pull your weight. We risk being those business and political leaders who knew of the planet's limits and elected to cross them anyway. That... we can't afford."
Imminent Planetary Boundary Crossings
Forrest warned that the world is just years away from hitting critical thresholds. "2030 is around the corner. You will be at 1.5C. You will be crossing planetary boundaries," he predicted, suggesting that damage beyond these limits would become far harder to reverse.
He emphasised the unyielding nature of physical realities: "You can fool all the people some of the time... but when it comes to physics and biological life, it isn't listening."
Davos Context: Climate Overshadowed by Geopolitics
Forrest's remarks came during a tense week at Davos where climate action took a backseat to global power struggles. Europe and the US clashed with Trump over his renewed push to acquire Greenland and escalated tariff threats against NATO allies.
This wasn't Forrest's first criticism of Trump's climate stance. At Fortescue's annual general meeting in Perth last October, Forrest had already challenged the former president's rejection of global clean-energy targets.
"You've got a president of the United States declaring that climate change is the great con job in history straight in the face of massive investment by some of the smartest people I will ever meet," Forrest said previously.
Trump's Persistent Climate Skepticism
Trump has maintained consistent opposition to renewable energy transitions. During his September address to the United Nations General Assembly, he branded climate change "the greatest con job in the world" and warned countries switching from fossil fuels that their economies would suffer.
"We're getting rid of the falsely named renewables. By the way, they're a joke. They don't work," Trump told the UN. "They're too expensive; they're not strong enough to fire up the plants that you need to make your country great."
He specifically targeted wind energy: "The wind doesn't blow. Those big windmills are so pathetic and so bad, so expensive to operate, and they have to be rebuilt all of the time and they start to rust and rot."
Contrasting Investment Realities
Trump's comments came as Australia invested $9 billion in clean energy projects including wind and solar last year, with such spending accelerating under the Albanese government's emissions reduction targets.
"All green is all bankrupt. That's what it represents," Trump claimed. "And it's not politically correct, I'll be very badly criticised for saying it, but I'm here to tell the truth."
The former president dismissed climate predictions: "All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong. They were made by stupid people that have cost their country's fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success."
Globalist Concept Rejection
Trump framed climate action as an unacceptable burden: "The entire globalist concept of asking successful industrialised nations to inflict pain on themselves and radically disrupt their entire societies must be rejected completely and totally, and it must be immediate."
He concluded with characteristic confidence about his own predictions: "And I'm really good at predicting things, you know?... I don't say that in a braggadocious way, but it's true. I've been right about everything."
The stark contrast between Forrest's business-case approach and Trump's outright rejection highlights the deepening divide in how global leaders approach the climate transition, with significant implications for both politics and economics worldwide.
