Prince Harry has been dealt a bruising verdict after the mission that prompted his most surprise trip to China failed to make waves.
The Duke of Sussex made headlines as he flew to Shanghai to address the need for more sustainable travel as his father, King Charles, was in Canada.
While speaking in the Chinese financial capital, Harry outlined the need for the travel industry to meet “vital climate and conservation targets by 2030".
However, veteran royal expert Jennie Bond was less than impressed - observing the duke's trip had failed to stick the landing.
Prince Harry's recent China visit seemingly failed to have the intended impact
Travalyst
“It seems to have made very little news at all. If the idea was to garner as much publicity for the cause as possible, it would seem to have fallen rather short,” Bond determined while speaking with The Mirror.
The timing of Harry’s visit, coinciding with King Charles’ visit to Canada amid the apparent rift between the father and son, quickly became the most talked about elements of Harry's visit.
Even still, the expert believed Harry's green crusading had totally failed to "overshadow" the King and Queen Camilla, who were in Canada to observe the country's state opening of parliament.
To make matters worse, Bond added that the irony of Prince Harry's visit was “hard to ignore”.
Jennie Bond argued Harry's cause had failed to garner the attention he would have liked
Travalyst
During the conference, Harry told delegates that "climate change isn't just an environmental challenge it's a critical business emergency".
He emphasised the need to "equip travellers with the information they need to make meaningful choices".
The Duke drew on his conservation experience, saying: "I've had the privilege of working in conservation for more than 20 years and I've witnessed first-hand how tourism can be both a catalyst for positive change and a source of environmental and cultural strain."
He urged the industry to "reaffirm its commitment to being a force for good", adding: "We must never give up."
Harry stressed the importance of meeting “vital climate and conservation targets by 2030"
Travalyst
“The irony of flying across the world to promote sustainable, environmentally friendly travel is hard to ignore,” Bond pointed out.
The former BBC royal correspondent questioned: “Surely a video speech would have been more ethical?”
According to the carbon emissions calculator of FlightFree USA, a campaign group urging people to fly less, "avoiding this trip (Los Angeles to Shanghai) is as climate friendly as carpooling for 3.7 years".
The calculator claimed that a passenger making a return flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai would cause more emissions of greenhouse gases in a single trip than 3.5 billion people emit over the course of a year.
LATEST ROYAL NEWS:
Harry's trip to Shanghai came as his father King Charles was in Canada
Getty
On average, a passenger travelling first-class on a return flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai causes the equivalent of 6.31 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The aim of this "travel impact model" is to allow anyone booking flights to see a single, consistent estimate of a given flight's carbon emissions, and how that compares to a typical flight on that same route.
However, when asked by The Times, Travalyst declined to share its own model's estimates for the amount of harmful emissions caused by an average first-class return flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai.
It is not known what flight Harry took to China, though emissions could be anywhere between 10 and 100 times higher in a private jet.
Most Read
