The billionaire Australian mining tycoon and investor
Andrew Forrest has led international condemnation of the UK’s new oil rush, saying he would pull his major investment from the country if the prime minister pursued “clickbait” fossil fuel policies.
The iron ore magnate, who also runs the Minderoo Foundation philanthropic organisation, threatened to move his investments out of the UK over Rishi Sunak’s
swivel towards new oil and gas drilling.
“I am a major investor here,” Forrest told
Bloomberg News on a visit to London. “If I see this country steering itself over a cliff backing fossil fuel, I am going to start pulling out. I will push my investments over to North America … I must invest where I know I have proper leadership, not leadership which is on a clickbait cycle.”
Forrest, one of the wealthiest people in Australia, is a major proponent of green hydrogen where the power is produced from renewables. His Fortescue Future Industries investment vehicle has a cash mountain of billions of dollars and has
signed a major deal with JCB, as well as building
a factory to produce batteries and electric powertrains for heavy industry vehicles and trains in Oxfordshire.
The prime minister’s announcement that more than 100 new oil and gas drilling licences would be granted for the North Sea in the autumn has sparked condemnation from climate scientists, energy experts and some within his own party.