“Every legislator in the world [needs] to bring themselves up to speed with the science, if they don’t believe the science, then they can just f--k off,” he said.

“We are facing a real and present danger and there are solutions, they do not have to wipe out our planet.”

Forrest would not elaborate on recent reports of large lay-offs coming in Fortescue’s mining and green energy arms except to say it was business as usual and there would be no “wanton” job cuts.

Shareholders will receive a fully franked dividend of 75 cents a share, 11 cents less than a year ago. The $US22 billion payout represented 65 per cent of the net profit after tax for the half-year.

Fortescue shares were down 1.4 per cent to $21.87 in late trading on Wednesday.