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)
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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 โno-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.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex announces a partnership between Booking.com, SkyScanner, CTrip, TripAdvisor and Visa called โTravalystโ at Aโdam 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 Amsterdamโs Aโdam Tower, Harry explained: โWhat 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: โThese 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 canโt make a difference.โ
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives in Amsterdam to announce a partnership between Booking.com, SkyScanner, CTrip, TripAdvisor and Visa at Aโdam 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)
โIโve certainly felt that โ but Iโve learned that we cannot dismiss the idea of trying to do something, just because we canโt do everything. We can all do better,โ the royal continued. โAnd, 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 โensure that my family are safeโ and that he has always offset his C02 impact.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex announces a partnership between Booking.com, SkyScanner, CTrip, TripAdvisor and Visa called โTravalystโ at Aโdam 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)
โWe 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