Heathrow third runway ruled illegal over climate change
Source: The Guardian
Heathrow third runway ruled illegal over climate change
Appeal court says decision to give go-ahead not consistent with Paris agreement
Damian Carrington Environment editor
@dpcarrington
Thu 27 Feb 2020 10.10 GMT
Last modified on Thu 27 Feb 2020 11.40 GMT
Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal by the court of appeal because ministers did not adequately take into account the governments climate change commitments.
The ruling is a major blow to the project at a time when public concern about the climate emergency is rising fast and the government has set a target in law of net zero emissions by 2050. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, could use the ruling to abandon the project, or the government could draw up a new policy document to approve the runway.
The government will not appeal the verdict, said transport secretary Grant Shapps: Our manifesto makes clear any Heathrow expansion will be industry led. He added: Airport expansion is core to boosting global connectivity. We also take seriously our commitment to the environment.
Johnson has opposed the runway, saying in 2015 that he would lie down in front of those bulldozers and stop the construction. Heathrow is already one the busiest airports in the world, with 80 million passengers a year. The £14bn third runway could be built by 2028 and would bring 700 more planes per day and a big rise in carbon emissions.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/27/heathrow-third-runway-ruled-illegal-over-climate-change