Fortescue pauses Science-Based Target validation as rules around emission counts are reviewed

Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals has paused its validation process under the Science-Based Target Initiative while a review is underway on how third party emissions – known as scope 3 – are assessed.

The review is critical for Fortescue, which is evolving from a single purpose iron ore miner and exporter to a multi-dimensional green energy powerhouse which wants to claim leadership in the race to zero emissions.

Most major corporates, including iron ore miners, have declared targets to reach “net zero” emissions by various dates. Fortescue has gone several steps further than that with a “real zero” target by 2030, which means burning no oil or gas for its iron ore operations in the Pilbara.

But the SBTi – a global initiative to which Forrest and Fortescue attach great importance – is complicated by its treatment and assessment of scope 3 emissions, which in Fortescue’s case means the way the products that it sells, in its case iron ore, are used by its customers.

Fortescue argues that – unlike the power sources and transport and equipment at its mine sites – it has no control over the way its iron ore is used in steel making, particularly in China where there are few options to cut emissions in the processes currently used.

The review of the SBTi’s treatment of scope 3 emissions is expected in early 2025 – but because of the impending deadline of Fortescue’s own two-year long validation process it has decided to pause its involvement until the outcome is known.

In a statement, Fortescue said that pausing technical validation of its targets by the SBTi does not change the emissions reduction targets set by Fortescue, which it set out in September in its Climate Transition Plan.

Forrest has been a vigorous campaigner for real zero emissions and argued against the use of offsets, which he compares to an excuse for not doing more reductions.

He has also been one of the few prominent business people to take on the fossil fuel industry, launching blistering attacks against the gas industry, corporates such as Woodside, and described “net zero” as a “con.”

“The SBTi has for so long led the charge to hold companies accountable for the damage they are doing to the planet,” Fortescue CEO Dino Otranto said in a statement.

“The stringent targets set out by the SBTi keep businesses focused on genuinely decarbonising rather than voluntarily using carbon offsets.

“While we have taken the decision to pause validation, pending finalisation of the SBTi’s standards, we look forward to engaging pro-actively and positively in the consultation in 2025.

“Fortescue is proof that heavy industry can be the solution to climate change, not the cause, and we look forward to continuing to support the SBTi in its critical mission to limit warming to 1.5C.”

Fortescue earlier on Tuesday announced it will receive $10 million in funding for a pilot project to develop 6 MW fast chargers – the most powerful in the world – to charge its fleet of massive 240 dump trucks that transport ore at its mine sites.

The equipment will be critical for its goal in reaching zero emissions by the end of the decade, and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency says it is funding the project so that the knowledge and expertise can be adopted by other miners operating in Australia.