However, he called on U.S. and U.K. governments to step up their support.
“Governments – the UK in the British Virgin Islands, the US in the US Virgin Islands – need to do all they can to help people here who have lost their homes and in many cases will have lost their livelihoods after the storm,” Branson wrote in his blog.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday approved a major disaster declaration for Florida and ordered federal aid to help the state struck by Hurricane Irma. Meanwhile, the British government is to provide a £32 million ($42 million) relief fund and double public donations made to the Red Cross appeal. Yet both governments have faced criticism for not doing enough.
Branson added that the Hurricane points to the damaging effects of climate change, and said more must be done to prevent further similar disasters.
“Man-made climate change is contributing to increasingly strong hurricanes causing unprecedented damage. The whole world should be scrambling to get on top of the climate change issue before it is too late – for this generation, let alone the generations to come,” said Branson.
Trump has famously denounced the notion of man-made climate change and in June 2017 pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation.
