If I’m being honest, I doubt Queen Elizabeth would have been able to “save” the COP26 conference, had she been well enough to attend. It doesn’t need “saving,” for one, and secondly I can’t really see the Queen walking up to the stage and making an impassioned speech about the environment or climate change. She cares about those issues in a general sense, but it’s not like she would have changed hearts and minds or anything. In that sense, Prince Charles was a more than adequate replacement for the Queen. He was given the task of making one of the opening speeches for the conference in Glasgow and whoops, he flopped. Literally.
I’m not making fun of him for this. I trip over sh-t all the time, especially going up stairs without a railing! He seemed fine and I doubt he seriously hurt himself or anything. It would have been a good moment for an icebreaker joke, like “the stairs were provided by Exxon” or something.
Unfortunately for Charles, all of this attention on his hosting duties at the conference has just highlighted his environmental hypocrisy. As he spoke on climate change and the environment, social media was being flooded with information about Charles’ travel habits and wastefulness.
The main issue drawing public criticism of the royal family’s environmental credentials is not, however, the state of their lands, but their use of carbon-intensive transportation. The royal family measures and discloses their carbon emissions as part of the annual Sovereign Grant and Sovereign Grant Reserve report to the British parliament. The latest issue highlights a reduction in emissions compared to 2020 and 2019, but, while decreasing, “business travel” remains one of the highest sources of carbon emissions for the royal household. According to an analysis by energy comparison site Eco Experts, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla’s carbon footprint amounted to more than 432 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2019, largely due to the use of private jets. In comparison, the average Brit emits about 10 tonnes of CO2 a year.
Prince Charles’ initiatives have also been criticized for their links to oil and gas giants. For instance, the inclusion of BP in the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Terra Carta (Earth Charter)—a document meant to provide businesses with a roadmap to 2030 “to move towards an ambitious and sustainable future”—raised eyebrows at the time.
Yep – and it should be noted that Charles flew out of the UK via private plane late last week, when he went to Rome for the G20 Summit. He traveled to Glasgow from Rome, also via private plane. While I think people are capable of being hypocrites in certain areas and still able to preach a worthwhile message, the royal family’s gluttonous use of private planes and helicopters is something I’ll never really understand.
The photo of Chuck and Modi is so funny.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
The royals really didn’t think it through when they made private jets a centrepiece in their smear campaign against the Sussexes.
Exactly this. They need to have the same energy for William though.
YUP, I was going to say something similar. Putting all that attention on H&M just means there’s more attention on the travel habits of ALL the royals.
Charles can thank William for the criticism he is getting because if not for the flybe escapade, the private jet thing wouldn’t still be an issue. William’s desire to make his brother look bad only worked in his mind because while the UK tabloid sycophants praised him, the rest of the world saw that hypocritical game for what it was and he made every single other royal a target, but especially Charles.
Private jests being used by white royals-cool
Private jets used by nonwhite royals-UNACCEPTABLE! HOW DARE THEY!
This just highlights that this is a 70+ man that is STILL waiting for the biggest role in his life,will he manage while most age mates have retired.
This why I have no patience for rich and powerful folks acting as leaders in this area – they all have such outsized footprints, lead hugely wasteful lives, and often have their fingers in dubious and unethical business dealings which are bad for humanity and the environment.
Exactly. Leonardo Dicaprio is one of my favorite examples of this. What has he actually DONE to help with climate change? Nothing. he just continues to travel by private jets and yachts and leave an enormous carbon footprint.
There’s been quite a lot in the British press in the past about Sting and Trudie Styler regarding this kinds of hypocrisy too. They are always using their private jet to fly off to “benefits” for their “eco-foundation”. I think she sent a jet back for a dress once!!! Oh my gosh I found an article but if you google Trudie Styler private jet there are so many articles, lol. She’s so nasty too, remember all the stuff about how badly she treats her staff?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1030594/Eco-campaigner-Sting-flies-solo-private-jet–twice-day.html
David Suzuki has made a living on preaching this ecogospel and his carbon footprint is huge!
This family in particular has all the time in the world to travel, so it should be doing it by whatever means is the most environmentally friendly choice. The brits give them an unbelievable budget for it so there is no excuse.
Absolutely! Charles does put in a lot more action than most people with money, but the private jets are insanely wasteful. I know people will use the excuse of staff and security, but I would bet the staff don’t fill the entire flight. I mentioned this in another post recently, and people replied that commercial flights might not fit their schedules, when meeting with important people, or they might miss their flight home if meetings overrun. You CAN work around that.
Saying that, I think people like Benzos are a disgrace when it comes to talking about tackling climate change.
I thought it would be funny, but I just felt bad for him when he tripped. It’s like tripping on stage at a class assembly in front of all of your classmates, only it’s on a WORLD STAGE. Ugh.
Does the sovereign grant report only list business travel, or does it include personal travel as well? Since William and Kate don’t work that much, but obviously use private jets and helicopters a great deal in their private time, if the report focuses on business travel, then their carbon footprints will seem lower than they actually are, if that makes sense.
Charles has done a lot of good for environmental causes and he is certainly knowledgeable about these issues. But, he needs to do better with his transportation and carbon footprint. ALL these wealthy people/world leaders need to do that .Like, did Charles really have to go to Rome, knowing he was going to be in Glasgow a few days later?
That’s a fair assessment. I am pretty staunchly opposed to air travel in the first place – Johnny and Jocelyn Nobody jetting off to Cancun for one weekend, then to Hawaii the next to burn points is so incredibly wasteful I just cannot believe it – but there’s continuum. Taking a private jet for personal, not business or necessary travel, is absolutely the worst on that continuum and I imagine that in that sense William and Kate have the worst carbon footprint in the whole family.
At least Charles is trying. He’s been banging the environmental drum for decades. There is lots of room for improvement but at least he’s interested. 45% of Americans don’t believe global warming is caused by humans.
Unfortunately if his footprint and consumption is astronomically higher than the people who don’t even believe in climate change then it sort of cancels it out in my view.
The 45% of Americans that do not believe in climate change probably have his carbon footprint combined.
The primary driver of climate change is from big industry, not ordinary people. We need governments to force industries to change or nothing will get better. That’s why this gathering has potential. Charles deserves all the criticism he gets for his wastefulness and hypocrisy (and his corruption, protection of a rapist, racism, etc.). At the same time, it’s good that he is trying (more or less) to raise awareness at this convention. We really need the big industrial nations’ governments like China and Russia and the US to buy in or things will never improve.
I’m skeptical when you consider the effect of depleted uranium on the environment which is a large proponent of the arms that the UK, represented by Charles, sells to Saudi Arabia (his visits there are also at the request of the government and these sales are part of what he brokers).
The report that listed the number of helicopter trips also included their trips to Norfolk. And that was figured out because they do such little actual work that when you see a high number of trips you can subtract the handful of work related events.
Not really. The average American has han annual carbon footprint of 16 tons, which by a very, very rough calculation means that 45% of Americans have footprint of around 2.3 trillion tons.
Meanwhile a private jet has a footprint of 2 tons an hour, so Prince Charles would have to spend 1bn hours (or 49 million days) a year on a private jet to make up the difference. Even excusing my very basic maths, that doesn’t seem possible.
As such, even though private jets are the worst, those 45% of Americans collectively (and mass populations in general) have a much bigger impact than one old Prince.
Perhaps “cancelling it out” is an exaggeration.
But if the American population is about 329 million, that makes approximately 148,050,000 the 45 percent of which we speak. Multiplying 16 by that equals around 2.4 billion in my estimation? (Granted I’m not great at math so feel free to correct me!). Obviously his official reported jet usage is not cancelling that out alone.
But the official jet trips reported aren’t the only factor (and the Royals are exempt from things like the Freedom of Information Act so they can report as they please, for all we know his output is much higher in reality). As mariahlee stated below – the multiple cars (not all running on sustainable materials), the food waste (Charles does waste food despite the reports of him being stingy with it, they all do), the large estates that are not all sustainable that require a great amount of water and energy.
Furthermore, Charles has a history of using private jets frivolously, sending them back for items he forgot, etc.
There is the question of infrastructure – much of the carbon output in the US is from cars because there is no other way to travel. Accessibility to greener food choices and utilities are also affected by these things. The Royals have far more flexibility and choice in that department as well.
What do Americans have to do with the Sovereign Grant report?
Anyway to answer your pre arranged talking point:
The BRF has a carbon footprint of 3850 tons a year compared to the average Briton who had 50 tons. So this family alone could do a lot of they lived a less wasteful lifestyle. And that includes private jets and helicopters.
A former poster (bluhare? LAK?) found it buried in reporting docs one year. From that moment on, all travel by W&K in the UK would be covered by taxpayers. That means every time he flies to Norfolk to see Rose, or Kate flies to Berkshire to see mummy, the taxpayer pay.
I like to think that in these stumble moments, Diana is somewhere putting kinks in the carpet for him to find.
Oh me too. I can see her in heaven “dance little man.”
Oh no, he tripped! Call out the Royal Death Watch!!
Whenever Charles and private jets are mentioned, there are some (a small number) of posters who sometimes go “Yes he uses private jets but he’s been talking about the environment for so long!” as that somehow makes his private jet use justifiable. It doesn’t. CO2 emissions aren’t going to go “The guy using the jet has been talking about the environment for years?!?!? Well I won’t damage the environment then!”. That’s not how it works.
I’m not a fan of private planes but I don’t even really care about them that much if people aren’t using them all the time even if that’s an unpopular opinion.
Charles never uses anything BUT private planes and the average Briton emits like, what, 10 tons of carbon per year? The footprint for his and Camilla’s office is like 3,000 and over half of it is on these trips purported to help the environment.
IIRC, he doesn’t just talk about the environment, he actually has done hugely actionable projects. Should he change his travel? Absolutely. Is he still doing something for the environment? Yup.
That’s not my point. My point was that yes he’s done a lot of projects and continues to do so, his private jet use is damaging the environment he cares so much about and projects about it doesn’t justify his private jet use or make it “okay” like some posters think it does. Unless he’s got a project that deals with his jet emissions, my actual point stands.
Mmmm…hugely actionable is questionable. He’s done good things but like anything the royals do are massively inflated and ascribe credit to him that belongs to others. It’s cool that he runs his personal properties on sustainability, but he believes the private sector is going to willingly fix everything which is just not realistic.
@Sofia – Agree with you that Charles needs to cut back on jet/helicopter use in his business life and needs to severely restrict, to almost nothing, jet/helicopter use in his private life.
Moving the Duchy to all organic, promoting organic agriculture for decades, working with Philip to make the private estate organic and self-sustaining. Those are big things, and yes, I agree he needs to decrease his private footprint.
Him making (a few) of his own estates sustainable is good but as far as being groundbreaking for the rest of the world, I’m not seeing it. The promotion of organic agriculture is admirable but it is often at an inaccessible price point for many people as he presents it – the Soil Association has done more work in this regard. And Duchy Originals has had issues before of sourcing things like salmon from Alaska where the footprint of shipping it to Scotland for its processing cancelled out the “greenness” of the intent.
Don’t misunderstand me, his initiatives are good, but they do not make him a trailblazer in the field. A trailblazer among Royals, but that’s not a high bar. Also Sunday’s comment below about him working directly with companies that produce so much pollution.
THIS. Oh Charles has a fancy car that runs on cheese? How cute and quaint. Meanwhile he once chartered a private flight to retrieve a forgotten SHOEHORN. Not to mention all the energy and resources spent to run the royal estates and palaces or constant helicopter trips when they could drive or running the wasteful royal train. It’s like if the CEO of BP recycled soda cans at his home, would he get praised for his environmental advocacy *eyeroll*
I have no doubt he “cares” about the environment but he just like the other royals is so out of touch and hypocritical. He truly thinks he’s an eco warrior but meanwhile won’t make sacrifices that inconvenience him, like being subject to environmental laws. Yes I know that was the Queen but Charles has previously tried to influence other legislation, why not that? That puts his entire advocacy into question. I’m getting tired of him patting himself on the back for railing about the climate for 50 years, it’s so smug and childish. Here, you get a cookie for being technically right but making no radical impact on society or on how your institution operates.
I think it’s the private jets and helicopters, plus various large homes that require significant energy and water use, plus the fleet of land rovers they travel with, plus the extended family that exhibit similar consumption patterns, plus the fact that they enjoy these privileges for a lifetime on the public dime. Their whole existence just highlights the unfairness of it all. Also, how is attempting to influence world leaders to adopt policies that will impact billions not as political as it gets?
As I said on another post, the Royals are lightweights. They have no business being in this event and should start adhering to environmental laws instead of asking for exemptions.
My guess is that Boris Johnson requested the attendance of Charles, Camilla and the Keens or they would not have been there. This was a Boris Johnson managed event IIRC.
What was with Boris? Sloppy, sleeping, and looking unsteady not impressive behavior for a Prime Minister.
I think Charles should have gone solo.
Yikes! That picture of Charles and Cam doesn’t exactly convey active listening does it? Instead they look tired, bored to tears, and like they would rather be anywhere else.
I would think that official trips involve a lot of staff and could be part of the number. And those may not allow for public air travel. I don’t know their protocol. But private trips? They should absolutely be made more environmentally conscious. Even if it was having a special train car on a regularly scheduled train. There’s no reason for helicopters especially because highgrove, sandringham and the like aren’t basically that far. And with official trips, so many are only a day or two. So if he has to go private (and, again, I don’t know the realities of that) they should at least be made longer and/or maybe they just don’t go. Or it’s only for funerals they need a representative at. Because to take a plane for a one day trip as is frequently the case just doesn’t justify the waste. And I’d love to see the Cambridges’s full numbers. Especially given their lack of work.
I just found out that the whole UK would fit inside the state of Michigan, where I’m from. Last weekend, my husband and I took an anniversary trip to mackinac island, we drove across most of the lower peninsula to get there, it was a 4.5 hour drive and we didn’t even consider flying, because that’s not that far to drive. 9 hours of total driving to spend 2.5 days somewhere is a fine trade off for me. And Anmer is probably WAY closer to KP than mackinac island is to my house, so I don’t get why the Keens can’t drive there, or take a train. There is no reason to take a helicopter for that short of a distance multiple times a year. They seem to spend weekends and week long/2 week long school holidays there, so they have the time to drive there and back and still enjoy themselves.
And the same goes for Charles and all of his various properties. Even if he lived at the southern most point of England and wanted to go to the northern most tip of Scotland, if the UK is smaller than Michigan, then it would still take him maybe 6 hours at most. And his houses are not actually that far apart. They’re much closer to each other.
It’s not just the inclusion of BP in the sustainable markets initiative, it’s that one of the biggest donors to Charles’ own charity is Saudi oil giant Aramco, which also happens to be one of the biggest polluters on the planet. It’s wild to me how Charles gets credit for being some climate change savior when in reality he’s accepted millions from the biggest offenders for decades. You can’t tout yourself as this big defender of the planet when you’re simultaneously taking what amounts to hush money, and pointing fingers everywhere else except at your donors and your own lifestyle.
Charles’ climate change activism is the same act as the Keens’ focus on mental health – they pay it lip service but in reality are huge hypocrites. He’s just been at the same scam for a few decades so people have fallen for it.
Well said, Sunday!
I see they’ve got him wearing makeup to tone down the boozer flush in his cheeks, but it’s made him look like a ghoul. Why would anyone want this old hypocrite as king?
That’s the first thing I noticed. He’s usually as red as the flag behind him. He *just* discovered makeup?!
Do the Royals really need to travel as much as they do? Everyone deserves a vacation- fine. But all the traveling to different countries isn’t necessary. Covid showed us that a lot of travel is unnecessary and frankly wasteful.
That photo of Charles and Modi IS funny. Looks like they’re playing patty-cake.
What do you think Macron is thinking about Charles in that photo?
Charles and Camilla look bored to death, Biden fell asleep during the speeches and Macron didn’t bother to show up at the reception. This conference is giving off low energy vibes, and was it necessary?, couldn’t they have met in Rome since most were already there anyway.
If a couple is hosting a reception they should split up and mingle but a lot of the pictures had W&K together. He needs to cut her loose at these events, it’s sink or swim time. I’m sure tutorials from people at the foreign office could be arranged if she need to learn and can’t do it on her own.
I noticed that Charles and Camilla did manage to individually get pictured with perhaps the only black person at the conference.
I’d probably look like that too in the photos if I had to listen to Jeff Bezos talk.
I quite enjoyed seeing Charles trip in the video. A beautiful moment. Macron doesn’t seem to be seeing Prince Charles at all. He knows that Charles is unimportant and not a world leader, though Charles seems to be gripping onto Macron–to steady his balance? Was Charles drinking beforehand? I know what I’m saying isn’t nice, but I don’t care.
That man looks like someone done being king instead waiting to be.