Prince Harry Responds to Private Jet Use, Cites Security Reasons

4 Min Read
The Duke Of Sussex Launches New Partnership In Amsterdam
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex announces a partnership between Booking.com, SkyScanner, CTrip, TripAdvisor and Visa called 'Travalyst' at A'dam Tower on September 03, 2019 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The initiative is to help transform the travel industry to better protect tourist destinations. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

On Monday (September 02, 2019), Prince Harry traveled to the Netherlands to announce a new partnership between leading online travel firms that aim to transform the industry.

At the event, the 34-year-old spoke about his own impact on the environment after the furor that followed his use of private jets, saying โ€œno-one is perfectโ€.

The visit comes shortly after Harry and Meghan Markle faced mounting criticism after reportedly taking four private jet journeys in 11 days, rather than opting for commercial flights, despite speaking out on environmental issues.

The Duke Of Sussex Launches New Partnership In Amsterdam
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex announces a partnership between Booking.com, SkyScanner, CTrip, TripAdvisor and Visa called โ€˜Travalystโ€™ at Aโ€™dam Tower on September 03, 2019 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The initiative is to help transform the travel industry to better protect tourist destinations. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

During his speech at Amsterdamโ€™s Aโ€™dam Tower, Harry explained: โ€œWhat is clear across this vast landscape is that our world faces environmental challenges of unprecedented scope and scale. From deforestation and the loss of biodiversity, to ocean plastics and poaching, the problems can sometimes seem too big to fix.โ€

He added: โ€œThese human-caused challenges often need a giant system shift to make a significant enough impact. And that is what this partnership is here to try and do. Sometimes the scale of the conservation crisis feels overwhelming and that individual actions canโ€™t make a difference.โ€

The Duke Of Sussex Launches New Partnership In Amsterdam
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives in Amsterdam to announce a partnership between Booking.com, SkyScanner, CTrip, TripAdvisor and Visa at Aโ€™dam Tower on September 03, 2019 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The initiative is to help transform the travel industry to better protect tourist destinations. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

โ€œIโ€™ve certainly felt that โ€“ but Iโ€™ve learned that we cannot dismiss the idea of trying to do something, just because we canโ€™t do everything. We can all do better,โ€ the royal continued. โ€œAnd, while no-one is perfect, we are all responsible for our own individual impact; the question is what we do to balance it out.โ€

When asked about his decision to use private jets, the royal said he uses commercial flights 90% of the time but does make other arrangements at times to โ€œensure that my family are safeโ€ and that he has always offset his C02 impact.

The Duke Of Sussex Launches New Partnership In Amsterdam
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex announces a partnership between Booking.com, SkyScanner, CTrip, TripAdvisor and Visa called โ€˜Travalystโ€™ at Aโ€™dam Tower on September 03, 2019 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The initiative is to help transform the travel industry to better protect tourist destinations. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

โ€œWe can all do better and while no one is perfect, we all have a responsibility for our own individual impact. The question is what we do to balance it out. What is clear across this vast landscape is that our world faces environmental challenges of unprecedented scope and scale. These human-caused challenges often need a giant system shift to make a significant enough impact. And that is what this partnership is here to try and do.โ€

View this post on Instagram

Today, during the launch event of the new global initiative โ€˜Travalystโ€™, The Duke of Sussex shared his remarks on the exciting new initiative from Amsterdam. #Travalyst, an initiative led by The Duke and founded by Booking.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and Visa, sees a pressing need for increased collaboration to make sustainability a priority across our entire travel experience โ€“ and we believe that collective, collaborative action will be critical to achieve this. The travel and tourism sector is constantly growing and contributes a significant impact to the world we live in today. The Duke sees it as one of the worlds biggest problems but believes this partnership can make it one its greatest solutions: โ€ข โ€“ 1.8 Billion trips will be made annually by 2030, and since 2000, the number of trips taken around the world has more than doubled โ€“ 71% of global travellers think travel companies should offer more sustainable options โ€“ $8.8 Trillion was generated to the global economy from travel and tourism last year โ€“ 57% of all international trips by 2030 will include emerging market destinations We plan to work closely with local communities and providers, leveraging technology to help scale sustainable supply to meet the growing mass-market demand from consumers โ€“ ultimately, making sustainable travel options of all kinds easier for consumers to identify, book and enjoy. Click our link in bio to read The Duke of Sussex full speech from today Photoย ยฉ๏ธ SussexRoyal

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on