Prince Charles flew 16,000 miles in 11 days before Greta Thunberg meeting

Upon his arrival, he drove an electric Jaguar car to the Swiss resort where the convention was being held. Prince Charles gave a speech on Wednesday in which he urged world leaders to take “bold and imaginative action” when it comes to their environmental practices according to the Daily Mail.

It was an appearance and a speech that didn’t corroborate very well with the Prince’s lifestyle. The Ministry of Supply revealed that in just the 11 days leading up to the convention Prince Charles took three flights on private jets and one additional flight via private helicopter for the purpose of official government business.

The Paramount Business Jet calculator, a program that allows passengers to understand and calculate their carbon emissions tallied that the air travel of those 11 days alone amounted to 162 metric tons of carbon emissions. That is 18 times the amount that the average Brit uses a year, and it cost approximately 270,000 British Pounds.

Clarence House spokesman said, “Global travel is an inescapable part of the Prince’s role as a senior member of the Royal Family representing the UK overseas.

“When he travels he does so at the request of the British Government. He does not choose the destinations any more than he chooses the means by which the journeys are undertaken.”

A source from within the Royal circle defended the Prince saying, “The Prince has been campaigning against the dangers of global warming for 50 years. As soon as there is a more efficient way of travelling, bearing in mind all the factors involved, he’ll be the first to adopt them.”

However, Muna Suleiman, of Friends Of The Earth, said: ‘Climate targets can’t be met without cutting pollution from aviation emissions, and private jets are a particularly wasteful way to travel.’’

Prince Charles had a Bombardier Global Express fly 944 miles from Austria to pick him up from his Birkhall home in Scotland. He was then flown to Muscat, where he paid his respects to the departed Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said on behalf of the Queen. He then flew 750 miles by private jet from Scotland to Switzerland for the Davos summit days later.

Following the speech, he travelled 1,740 miles to Israel. A private jet was chosen for security reasons and the Prince only accepted the Davos invitation because it was on the way to Israel according to Royal officials.