Airplane boss says a debate with climate deniers needs to be started so everyone is singing from same hymn sheet
Richard Branson. (Pic: UN Climate Change)
British entrepreneur Richard Branson says climate deniers need to be called out, debated and rallied against.
In a feisty post on his blog, Branson also called on governments to respect the latest IPCC report and introduce national policies to cut carbon emissions.
It’s clearer than ever: climate change is real, humans are the cause, and we have to act. Sometimes the riskiest decision you can make is to do nothing,” he says.
“If competition was encouraged in clean fuels, making it more attractive for entrepreneurs and businesses to focus upon tackling climate change, we would see results much sooner.
“Nobody, from businesses, to governments, to individuals can afford to put off taking action.”
The founder of airline Virgin Atlantic and a key member of the non-profit organisation the Carbon War Room also seemed to suggest that geoengineering needs to be considered by governments.
“Scalable and sustainable ways of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere will also need to be responsibly explored, investigated and integrated
Not all readers were happy with Branson’s stance:
@richardbranson bullshit but if true, stop flying your personal jets, your rediculous space program, etc. You are a huge carbon waster.
— Evil Bert (@EvlBert) October 14, 2013
Two weeks ago the the UN’s aviation body voted on a resolution to lay the foundations of a market based mechanism (MBM) to curb emissions, at the same time as laying waste to the EU’s own emissions trading scheme.
The aviation industry is responsible for 2% of all human-induced carbon emissions and 12% of emissions from all transport sources.
Branson added: “We are investing any profits from our airlines into clean fuel technology, and focusing extremely closely on ensuring our initial Virgin Galactic flights have the same carbon footprint as a return Virgin airline ticket”