Billionaire Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson says younger generations should feel positive about the future and that they can “achieve great things”.
“Any of us who can make a difference, no matter how small, should not waste this position,” he told CNBC’s Tania Bryer last month. .
Asked how young people can be reassured about the future on issues like climate change, Branson said: “They can achieve a huge amount, so honestly, I don’t think young people should feel depressed about it. I think we Climate change can be overcome, if we have… we have to make sure we have the right politicians at the top,” he said.
“We can make sure all the problems in the world are solved, but we just … need to focus our efforts and get everyone focused on solving them,” Branson said.
Branson made the comments to CNBC ahead of Donald Trump’s re-election – a president-elect who could pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, a landmark climate commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Branson has previously Describe Trump Have a “vindictive mentality”.
young leader
Helping young people has always been a focus of Branson’s, and in 1967, as a teenager, Branson opened a student counseling center to provide free advice on sex and relationships. In 2004, he founded Virgin Unite, the Virgin Group’s non-profit foundation that invests in early-stage companies to “create opportunities for a better world.” Form leaders who aim to represent the needs of their generation.
Branson told CNBC that Virgin Unite has formed a partnership with the We Are Family Foundation, which was co-founded by musician and producer Nile Rodgers after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Rogers said he lost three friends in the attack and later started the foundation to “educate people to just talk about our differences.” When hate crimes against the Muslim community occur Rising after 9/11.
“The best thing about us is that we work with young people all over the world,” Rogers said of the two organizations. Climate change, public health and criminal justice reform will take center stage, According to news posted on the Internet.
Nile Rodgers of Nile Rodgers & Chic will perform at Harvest Rock 2023 on October 28, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia.
Mark Grimwade | WireImage | Getty Images
Branson said in the release that young people can have a “huge impact.” “The issues we face today mean it has never been more important to ensure young people are front and center in the conversation,” he said.
Branson and Rogers were both activists in their youth. Rogers joined the Black Panther Party in Harlem as a teenager and became a community organizer, championing racial equality and helping the party launch many of its activities, including a free breakfast program for schoolchildren in the late 1960s. Around the same time, Branson was protesting the Vietnam War through the magazine he ran, The Student.
Branson said differences between people may be exaggerated. “The differences between us, let’s… call them left and right, are nowhere near as great as politicians would like us to believe,” he said, describing meetings with people on his “opposite political spectrum.” . Branson said the two ultimately agreed on most of the world’s big issues. “The problem is, politicians need to… fan the flames of anger to… get votes, which is obviously sad,” he said.
Rogers, the producer behind such hits as David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” and Duran Duran’s “The Reflex,” said he has toured extensively this year. “Every country we’ve been to has been great, and I’ve found the people to be generally great,” he said. “It’s just that the governments are unstable and sometimes run by people who don’t have the best interests of the world at heart.”
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