Richard Branson & Daryl Hannah talk to the UN about Climate Change (Seriously)

PRESS CONFERENCE ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY CLIMATE CHANGE THEMATIC DEBATE

“History has taught us that, in times of peril, when all seems lost, bringing together the greatest minds … to work together, with one common goal –- survival -– is the most effective way to prevail,” one of the world’s leading entrepreneurs, Richard Branson, said, today, as he put forward the idea of creating “an environmental war room” to combat climate change at a Headquarters press conference.

Also speaking to the press in connection with the General Assembly’s two-day special debate –- “Addressing Climate Change: The United Nations and the World at Work” –- were the President of the Assembly, Srgjan Kerim, and actress Daryl Hannah.

Mr. Branson announced that his enterprise, Virgin Group, had put up a $25-million prize to encourage scientists and inventors to find a way to reduce the level of carbon in the atmosphere, and he urged the world’s 20 wealthiest nations to match that amount to create the world’s largest-ever prize of half a billion dollars. The winner of the prize could literally “save most of mankind”, he said. If such a breakthrough took place, mankind would be able to regulate the Earth’s temperature by extracting carbon when it got too hot -– and by adding carbon when it was too cold. “We have certainly sorted how to add carbon –- we just need to sort out how to extract it,” he said.

Elaborating on the “war room”, he said that it would respond to the need to create “an overall battle plan” in the fight against climate change. It would be a nerve centre to catalyze and scale up innovative ideas that would have the most significant impact on ensuring humanity’s long-term sustainability. It would be a unique combination of entrepreneurial muscle, the best possible data and the power to mobilize resources and influence policy.

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What effect will Virgin Galactic have on the Environment?

Space access and exploration is and will continue to be a key component in our ability to understand, measure and better manage the effects of climate change on earth. Already, much of the early evidence of the causes and effects of a warming planet has been derived from satellite technology not to mention its fundamental impact on meeting the basic requirements of a burgeoning global population. However, the technology that still delivers payloads and people to space has a high negative environmental impact and has remained essentially unchanged for half a century. Virgin Galactic is investing in a space access system that is radically different from what's gone before and many times more environmentally friendly. This, and the future technology that it inspires, will allow man to continue to reap space related environmental benefits without making an unacceptable contribution to the environmental problem. Additionally, Virgin Galactic's New Mexico Spaceport is being designed to take all its energy requirements from renewable sources. It is often claimed that the modern environmental movement can be traced back to “Blue Marble” photograph of the Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972 and now one of the most widely distributed images of all time. Certainly, many astronauts of the past 45 years have returned to earth as confirmed environmentalists. We believe that the Virgin Galactic experience will have the same impact on many of those who travel with us, providing an important increase in environmental awareness and pressure for change.

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