On Monday, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, a pugnacious Australian mining magnate with an estimated fortune of US$15.6 billion, announced that his metals group Fortescue would spend more than US$6 billion to stop using fossil fuels in the next few years. These would, he said, be replaced with renewable energy sources, such as green hydrogen.Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Back when Thunberg was excoriating sceptical politicians like Donald Trump, corporate leaders were all too eager to proclaim their environmental virtues. A couple of years ago, my colleagues and I were inundated by pitches from hyperactive public relations executives who wanted us to feature their environmentally conscious CEOs.
Politics is poisoning the debate too. In the U.S., Republican leaders such as Mike Pence, the former vice-president, have lambasted pro-green policies as “woke capitalism”, and some Republican-controlled states are introducing new rules that would penalize investment companies with green products, such as BlackRock. With the midterm elections looming, few CEOs want to offend Republican politicians slated to win.
There’s another, subtler factor too: many executives fear that if they boast about their green strategies too loudly, it will prompt activists to become extra-vigilant about scrutinizing their companies. This raises the chances that they will be accused of “greenwashing” if the company’s claims do not entirely match their practices. For some, keeping quiet seems the safest bet.Article content