Richard Branson is green?

January 31, 2008

Richard Branson has been professing his greenness lately, is he is being opportunistic or sincere?

In an interview with the CBC, he states that Virgin’s plane and train businesses are the antithesis of green and that he only became aware of green issues about 4 years ago. The point he is making is that he is aware of these issues now and is acting upon his new found knowledge. He gave a great example about choosing to build new refineries with cleaner technology and the ability to refine alternative fuels over purchasing existing one. He went on to state later in the interview that those who have acquired massive personal wealth should use their dollars to give back whether it is eradicating disease, hunger, dirty water, whatever.

Philanthropy in the US happens the way he described it; you get rich and THEN you give back. I always thought this system was a flawed. It is essentially get rich at all costs (social and environmental) for the shareholders and then give back once you are older and wiser (and have the time).

Branson is a brilliant entrepreneur and he just may be the missing link between what the legacy of old business continues to be and the hundreds of start-ups that are operating in the new world of mission based capitalism. In fact he has started Virgin Unite to further this cause.

SC Johnson and Patagonia have been focusing on this issue since they were founded and both are well respected, profitable companies. But do they have the mass influence that Branson has even though he is late to the game? SC Johnson has been around over a hundred years and I can’t think of a competitor that goes to the lengths they do. Patagonia is still one of a kind in the sporting goods business. I hope Branson can use his influence and dollars backing Unite to change every business model out there that has no regard for the triple bottom line.

Back to the original questions:

Is he green? He owns an airline.

Is he opportunistic or sincere? Who knows, you can decide for yourself, but the fact he appears to be transparent concerning his admittedly dirty businesses is refreshing. It doesn’t look like he is washing the message just to get press or line up with those who claim to be green.

It appears that Branson is challenging social and environmental issues head-on with his branded not-for-profit, Virgin Unite. He believes business has the capacity to improve the human condition. We think he is right.

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