Harry and Meghan accused of ‘hypocrisy’ for using private jet after climate change event

Private flight from New York to California estimated to produce 17 tons of carbon ­emissions

The couple attended Global Citizen Live, a charity concert against extreme poverty (Getty Images,)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been accused of “hypocrisy” after leaving a concert urging action on climate change and extreme poverty on a private jet.

The two attended Global Citizen Live, a 24-hour concert that featured performances from Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Lopez, BTS and Elton John, among others.

The charity concert, in Central Park, New York, raised more than $1.1bn (£810m) in commitments and pledges to fight extreme poverty. The event called on the wealthiest nations to meet a £70 billion-a-year promise to help developing countries become green, and for the US to halve its emissions by 2030.

Meghan and Harry left the New York concert and flew to their home in California on a Dassault Falcon 2000 private jet, according to The Sun.

Royal author Penny Junor told the newspaper: “I do think this is hypocrisy. I’m sure there were plenty of scheduled flights.”

She added: “I do not understand why they are behaving as if they are superstars.

“His father has been known to take scheduled flights. His brother takes scheduled flights.

“This totally muddies the waters of their climate message. They are shooting themselves in the foot by taking private flights.”

A flight on a private jet from New York to California is estimated to produce 17 tons of carbon ­emissions.

The pair have been criticised in the past for undermining their status as environmental role models and were branded the least eco-friendly royals based on their travel footprint for 2019-20 in research by saveonenergy.com, which allocated points based on eco-positive activities and deducted points for their travel footprint.

In his column in MailOnline, Piers Morgan proclaimed the Sussexes “love to preach one thing and do the exact opposite”.

“The hypocrisy is breath-taking,” he wrote, criticising their use of private jets and the vehicles they used to get around New York.

Representatives for Harry and Meghan have been contacted for comment.