Planet Green
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Sir Richard Branson is one of the most distinguished and successful business entrepreneurs of our times. Over three decades, his visionary ideas have established the Virgin Group as a leading brand in bringing forward-thinking innovations to market, covering areas from music to air travel and, most importantly, the environment.
In recent years, Branson has fully devoted his time and attention to finding solutions for our global environmental challenges through the Virgin Green Fund, which finances the advancement of renewable energy technologies and resource efficiency.
Setting an industry precedent for the future, Branson is determined to reduce the carbon footprint of his airline. He is investing all of its profits in the research and development of clean fuels and new products that might one day allow us to fly without damaging the environment. A born optimist, Branson declares: “There are lists and lists of things that need to be done, but with enough determination we will all get it fixed.”
More About Richard
The English entrepreneur Richard Branson is founder and CEO of the Virgin Group with over 200 companies in more than 30 countries. In 1970, at age 20, Branson founded Virgin as a mailorder record retailer, and shortly afterwards opened his first record shop in London. Two years later, Branson launched the record label Virgin Records, which, by the early 1980s, became one of the top six record companies in the world, signing household names like the Rolling Stones. In 1984, Branson expanded his entrepreneurial efforts by establishing the airline Virgin Atlantic Airways, which has become the second largest long-haul international airline.
Over the course of three decades the Virgin Group has expanded into leisure, travel, tourism, mobile, broadband, TV, radio, music festivals, finance and health. In recent years, Branson has focused primarily on finding new solutions to our global environmental challenges. Through the Virgin Green Fund, Branson has made substantial investments in the research for renewable energy and resource efficiency. In 2007, Branson conceived the Virgin Earth Challenge along with former Vice President Al Gore. The goal of the competition is to encourage technologies that will achieve the net removal of greenhouse gases to avoid global warming.
