Prince Harry Named to TIME100 Climate List for His Work with Travalyst

Prince Harry is being recognized as a leader driving climate action as the founder of Travalyst in the second annual TIME100 Climate 2024 list.

On Nov. 12, TIME unveiled the cohort of changemakers it is celebrating as “the 100 most influential leaders driving business to real climate action,” and the Duke of Sussex landed on the list for his environmental tourism initiative. Prince Harry, 40, was recognized in the same “Titan” category as Bill Gates and Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the King of Bhutan, among others, and his profile bio reflected his inspiration for founding Travalyst.

“The Duke of Sussex supports conservation groups in Africa and says he really became an environmentalist during a trip in 2012 to the Caribbean when a 7-year-old boy told him that England’s environmental impact was damaging the coral reefs,” the TIME spotlight said, linking to PEOPLE’s coverage of the Travalyst launch in 2019.

“After that interaction, he was inspired to start Travalyst (‘travel’ and ‘catalyst’), a nonprofit that provides people booking travel with emissions and other sustainability data so they can consider the lowest impact options,” it said.

The tribute continued to highlight the startling statistic that tourism accounts for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with Travalyst endeavoring to “help make a dent in the industry’s carbon footprint.”

In 2022, Travalyst and Google collaborated to create the free Travel Impact Model that predicts per-passenger carbon dioxide emissions for upcoming flights so passengers can make more informed choices. Travalyst’s partners include Booking.com, Expedia Group, Mastercard, Skyscanner, Tripadvisor and Visa, the TIME100 Climate statement said. It also called out how Travalyst marked a milestone in September — having its flight emissions data appear in over 65 billion searches globally.