Iron ore billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has ramped up his climate evangelism, barnstorming the world’s top universities with a lecture on the risk of lethal heat.
Outside, it is one of those perfect Sydney spring days, 26 degrees and a breeze that’s soft on the face.
Forrest described calls for everyone to do their bit to tackle climate change as flagrant greenwashing, arguing that there are about 1000 people in the world culpable for climate change and capable of fixing it. During the Sydney talk, Forrest said he was motivated by the string of heatwaves that hit the northern hemisphere this year, driving extreme temperatures that climate scientists had not expected to see for some years. This weekThe searing temperatures prompted Forrest to do some research, or at least to commission some from his harried staff, who brought to his attention the concept of wet bulb temperature.
Such doomsaying has left some observers a little jarred. One of the first versions of the talk, delivered at the Boao Forum for Asia in Perth in August, was largely unnoticed by mainstream media but prompted performative sniggering among some climate sceptic commentators. Inside Jay’s heat chamber, that’s not hard to imagine. I was allowed to remain inside a dry heat about the same as that experienced in parts of the northern hemisphere for a few moments. With each breath, I noticed the odd sensation of my tongue instantly drying.
Another observer said he feared Forrest was driven by an unchecked ego, accelerated by deep pockets. “He has no one in his life to say ‘no’ any more.”
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