Meghan Markle and Prince Harry vow to go carbon neutral after being slammed over using private jets
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle have pledged to go completely carbon neutral after being slammed over their use of private jets.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly taken at least 21 private jets in the last two years despite preaching about going green.
But now the couple have committed to becoming net zero by 2030, meaning that they will stop using the fuel guzzling private planes.
Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, appeared on stage and pressed the “wealthiest nations” to deliver on a £70billion-a-year pledge to help developing countries go green last month.
To mark the COP26 conference in Glasgow, which was attended by Prince Charles and Prince William, the couple have committed to “solutions for our climate crisis.”
Posting on Archewell, they have vowed to continue their “long-standing commitment to the planet” and state that the company will also be working towards the same goal.
In a statement they said: “While we have actively made choices to offset and balance this carbon footprint, now, with the tools provided by partner organizations, we know that we can all do better.
“We can be net zero, and this is what we pledge to do. Achieving net zero carbon emissions means making a series of choices over time to make that footprint as small as possible, while compensating for any remaining emissions through high-quality carbon removal projects.
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“As an organization, we will work with an independent consultant to track all Archewell-related activities from our inception to understand our collective footprint.”
They have warned that “nearly every” activity in daily life results in contributing to their carbon footprint, including what we eat, what transport we use and the use of electricity or heating.
Previously the couple have come under fire for the number of private jets they were using to travel internationally, often borrowing celebrity pals planes.
Former government minister Norman Baker, 64, told Newsweek: “It’s completely hypocritical for Prince Harry or other members of the royal family to lecture people about climate change when they’re emitting more carbon than almost everyone else on the planet.
“People using private jets are in the top one percent of carbon emitters in the world.
“Prince Harry needs to stop using private jets or if he wants to use private jets he needs to stop lecturing people on climate change.
“It is not particularly challenging to get a flight from New York to California – people do it all the time.”
The couple have faced repeated criticism for insisting on using private flights, despite preaching about the environment.
‘BALANCE OUT’
Baker said Harry and Meghan took 18 private jet trips in the 12 months from January 2019 to January 2020.
The pair have reportedly taken at least 21 private jets in the last two years, including one trip from Canada to LA when they first moved to America in March 2020.
A flight on a private jet from New York to California is estimated to produce 17 tons of carbon emissions.
And the average carbon footprint per person in the UK per year is 12.7 tons, eco firm Pawprint says.
The Sun revealed in 2019 that the pair had taken six of ten round trips on private jets since getting married the previous year.
It included a flight to Italy for a Google climate change summit, as well as trips to Ibiza and Nice.
Harry also took a private plane home to California after a polo tournament for his Sentebale charity in Aspen, Colorado, in August.
The prince has previously defended his use of private jets and insisted that he spends 99 per cent of his life travelling via commercial flights.
In 2019, he said: “Occasionally there needs to be an opportunity based on a unique circumstance to ensure that my family are safe, and it’s genuinely as simple as that.”
He explained that he tries to “balance out” the “impact” of private flights by off-setting his CO2 emissions.