Andrew Forrest has accused the world’s plastic producers of derailing a global push for a binding treaty on pollution, in a recent letter obtained by Business News.
Andrew Forrest has accused the world’s plastic producers of derailing a global push for a binding treaty on pollution, in a recent letter obtained by Business News.
The letter is the latest offensive in an ongoing campaign by Dr Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation against plastic pollution and was reportedly sent to the world’s top 20 plastics companies last week.
In it, the Fortescue founder and Minderoo co-chair suggested a December meeting held to develop a global, “internationally legally binding instrument” against plastics was derailed by lobbyists.
“It was widely reported that lobbyists sponsored by companies from the fossil fuel and chemical industry, like yourselves, maintained a disproportionate presence at [the] INC-5 [meeting], both disclosed and in stealth,” Dr Forrest wrote, citing a report by the Center for International Environmental Law.
“These brazenly partisan industry lobbyists comprised the largest delegation at INC- 5.
“These powerful stakeholders leveraged their influence to stifle critical discussions, contributing to its collapse without meaningful progress.”
Dr Forrest's letter suggested he did not attend the event, but said representatives he spoke to told him the influence of lobbyists meant the goal of setting a global standard for plastic pollution was now at risk.
“As a businessman and philanthropist who has over many years devoted substantial personal resources to address the current plastics crisis, this alarms me,” he wrote.
No date has been set for a follow-up meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.
An article by the Center for International Environmental Law, cited by Dr Forrest in his letter, claimed 220 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists registered to attend the event in Busan, South Korea.
Among those listed in the Center’s report with a prominent presence was ExxonMobil, which recently filed a defamation lawsuit in a Texas court against a group involved in a Californian anti-plastics campaign, including one entity which it claims is a subsidiary of Minderoo.
ExxonMobil claims its reputation has been damaged by the campaign, which has targeted its plastics recycling technology.
Dr Forrest and Minderoo have each denied ownership or control of the Intergenerational Environment Justice Fund which ExxonMobil claimed was a wholly-funded subsidiary of the charity.
No claims were made against Minderoo or Dr Forrest directly.
The letter is the latest in a series of plastics-focused moves by Minderoo, which has long been outspoken against plastic pollution.
A list of the companies Minderoo believes to be the world’s top plastic waste makers was published in 2023, as part of the foundation’s Plastic Waste Makers Index report.
That list claimed ExxonMobil was the world’s largest single-use plastics waste generator in the world, ahead of Sinopec and Dow.
It is not clear whether the companies targeted by the letter were the same as the top 20 listed in the 2023 report.
Dr Forrest has in the past claimed his eyes were opened to the impacts of plastics pollution while researching a PhD in marine ecology.
He has also been an outspoken critic of fossil fuels producers, famously suggesting in late 2023 that oil and gas leaders’ heads should be “put on spikes”, in a radio interview which prompted a rebuke from Woodside boss Meg O’Neill – previously an ExxonMobil executive.
