That’s not very green, Harry!
He takes eco car to airport... then private jet to polo match
HIS widely professed love of saving the planet is arguably matched by his passion for polo.
Prince Harry, however, was yesterday accused of being ‘at odds with his message’ for taking a private jet to a charity tournament.
The Duke of Sussex was spotted arriving at a California airport – before the plane sat idling on the tarmac for 30 minutes while staff arrived in a gasguzzling SUV with his polo kit.
The £7.5million Bombardier Challenger 600 then made the 90-minute, 1,000-mile trip to Aspen, Colorado, churning out
‘Actions need to follow words’
more than six tons of carbon dioxide on the way – around ten times more than a seat on a commercial flight. It is unclear if Harry made the return journey by private jet or another means.
His Sentebale team won the tournament on Thursday – with Harry scoring five times. But climate campaigner Anna Hughes accused him of ‘scoring an own-goal’.
The director of Flight Free UK said: ‘Harry talks a lot about the environment, yet actions need to follow words and this example shows he doesn’t.
‘We want people in the public eye to be demonstrating low-carbon behaviour, especially when they talk about it – and Harry says he’s only having two children for the sake of the planet.
‘He has so much potential to do good but he keeps taking private jets. It seems to be at odds with his message.’ Harry, 37, is believed to have travelled from his £11million mansion in Montecito on Wednesday for the flight at Santa Barbara airport.
He arrived at around 11am in an electric Audi SUV before waiting for his green kit bag and mallets to arrive half an hour later in a black Range Rover. Two men loaded the items on to a golf cart and ferried them to the jet, which is owned by the duke’s friend, Florida-based businessman and polo enthusiast Marc Ganzi.
Meghan, 41, and the children are understood not to have joined Harry on the trip, which would have generated 12 tons of CO2 if it made the return flight.
The Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup is held annually at the Aspen Valley Polo Club and is the largest single fundraising event for the charity set up by Harry in 2006.
The Sussexes have been criticised repeatedly for failing to practise what they preach on the environment.
Harry and his family used a similar private jet in June when they flew home after visiting the UK for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The prince has defended using private jets, insisting 99 per cent of his air travel is on commercial services. In 2019, he said he tried to offset emissions on private planes. But Harry and Meghan are estimated to have generated around 72 tons of carbon dioxide this year alone from private flights. The 2016 Paris Agreement suggested individuals should be responsible for no more than 2.1 tons a year to stop global warming.
The duke and duchess have also launched an eco-travel project which rates holidaymakers on their green credentials and vowed that their Archewell foundation would be carbon neutral by 2030.
Last year Harry said climate change must be tackled ‘at the source’ to prevent children growing up in a world where their home countries are ‘either on fire or under water’.
The duke’s representatives were approached for a comment.