Richard Branson calls on governments to “tip the balance towards clean energy”

This week, business leader Richard Branson called for more ambitious climate action while attending the opening of the Cool Planet Experience (CPE) in Ireland.

The founder of the Virgin Group and climate action enthusiast Richard Branson has urged governments to abolish taxes on clean energy if global climate targets are to be met.

He said: “For entrepreneurs, the battle that faces us of global catastrophe is an enormous opportunity”.

“All a government has to do is tip the balance towards clean energy - it’s extremely easy - no taxes on clean energy, but taxes on dirty energy. It’s worked with cigarettes, where pushing the price up stops people smoking”.

“Anyone in a position of influence has got to persuade our politicians of the sense of it. Dirty fuel prices have gone up in the last four months. If we had more clean energy than demand for dirty energy, fuel prices wouldn’t have gone up”, he added.

Founder of the €1.5m exhibition Norman Crowley said that governments have underestimated the multi-billion euro opportunities arising from climate change mitigation, and he said that the message should become clearer from the national authorities.

“We have had ten environment ministers in Ireland since 1992 and in that time, disgracefully little has been done about climate change”, he said.

He also argued that the environmental community has been sending the wrong message for years, which has impeded bottom-up climate action.

“Climate change is not a big issue for government because it’s not a priority for voters. It’s not a priority for voters because voters think it’s too painful to change because the green lobby has been telling them for years that they need to go back to the 7th century and lead simple lives”.

“Our message is that with the latest technologies, people can now have their cake and eat it. The green message needs to change”, he added.

The Cool Planet Experience is an interactive exhibition which showcases climate solutions. It aims to change the perspective of how people see climate action through offering small everyday solutions that can make a difference.

Once visitors enter the tour, they are asked to complete a questionnaire which estimates their carbon footprint. Then, it exhibits a series of solutions spanning from sustainable transport, recycling and avoiding food waste to show how their carbon footprint can be minimised.

As soon as the tour ends, visitors are asked to make pledges such as cycling instead of using their cars, lobbying politicians or committing to buying an electric vehicle.

The exhibition will open to the public next month.