British billionaire Richard Branson said Thursday he would donate $3 billion US over 10 years to anti-global warming initiatives.

The founder of the Virgin group of companies pledged all profits from his transportation and airline businesses, which will then be invested in efforts to find renewable, sustainable energy sources in an effort to wean the world off oil and coal.

"We are very pleased today to be making a commitment to invest 100 per cent of all future proceeds to the Virgin Group from our transportation interest, both our trains and airline businesses, into tackling global warming," Branson told a news conference in New York with former U.S. president Bill Clinton at his side.

Branson made the announcement on the second day of the Clinton Global Initiative conference hosted by Clinton.

"Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents," Branson said. "We must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment."

Clinton praised Branson, calling him one of the most "creative" and "committed" people he had ever known.

Branson's commitment ensures that the conference would more than meet its goal of matching last year's efforts. In 2005, the conference received more than $2 billion in pledges.

The Clinton Global Initiative is a project of Clinton's charitable foundation, aimed at bringing together business, political and nonprofit leaders from around the world to solve what they view as the planet's most pressing problems.

With files from the Associated Press