--- title: "Richard Branson: Every Company Should Pay a Fee to Invest in Clean Energy" description: "Virgin CEO Richard Branson proposes to charge every company in the world a \"Clean Energy Dividned\" that will be used to invest in clean energy." date: "2019-03-17" modified: "2019-03-17" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/richard-branson-climate-change-clean-energy-dividend" categories: - "Energy" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "clean energy" - "climate change" - "richard branson" - "virgin" --- # Richard Branson: Every Company Should Pay a Fee to Invest in Clean Energy ![Virgin CEO Richard Branson proposes to charge every company in the world a "Clean Energy Dividned" that will be used to invest in clean energy.]() *\Image: Exchanges Photos via Flickr\* ## "Extremely Simple" "I believe there is an extremely simple way to whip climate change and I plan to set it out below." Virgin CEO and billionaire Richard Branson has ambitious plans to tackle one of the biggest threats humanity faces today. His plan according to [Friday's blog post](): ditch the idea of carbon taxes and pay a "Clean Energy Dividend" that would be later invested to develop clean energy technology. The blog post was released on the same day children all over the world skipped school to [call for climate action]() in the streets. The Clean Energy Dividend Branson refers to "could be the equivalent percentage that a carbon tax would have been, and based on cutting pollution at the rate the climate science shows is necessary," according to the blog post. ## Carbon Taxes Are So Last Year According to Branson, carbon taxes, while "of course well-intentioned," never raised "enough resources to tackle the problem" and more often than not ended up "unpopular with the public and \[...\] governments." But the idea of a carbon tax still has plenty of supporters. Earlier this year, a group of 45 U.S. economic experts from both sides of the political aisle [published a letter]() in the *Wall Street Journal* arguing that carbon emitters should be taxed and that money should be returned to American citizens. ## A Win-Win? A dividend on the other hand, Branson argues, would have some key advantages over such a tax: companies would get their money back by investing the dividend in emerging "low carbon fuels and other breakthrough technologies." They would also open up "millions of new jobs," making both the public and governments happy through driving fuel prices down and boosting the economy. It's an interesting idea, but it might be far too soon to call it an effective one. "Today I am just throwing this open to debate and would love feedback," Branson wrote. **READ MORE: [A simple idea to whip climate change]() \[*Virgin*\]** **More on climate change:** *[Top Economists: US Should Tax Carbon and Give Citizens the Money]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()