Plans to proceed with building a third runway at Europe’s biggest airport were overturned by the Court of Appeal on 26 February, on environmental grounds, placing the future of the £14 billion project in doubt. Envirotec writes
In what appears to be the first major legal ruling in the world to be based on the Paris Climate agreement, Judge Keith Lindbloom ruled that the government’s policy’s failure to stay within the terms of the 2015 accord, was “legally fatal” in its present form”.
Will Rundle of Friends of the Earth hailed the ruling as “an absolutely ground-breaking result for climate justice”. He said: “Shockingly, this case revealed that the government accepted legal advice that it should not consider the Paris Agreement when giving the third runway the go-ahead. The Court has said very clearly that this was illegal.”
MPs voted to back plans for the expansion in 2018, and have argued that it will bring benefits to the UK economy estimated at £61 billion.
But subsequent legal challenges by campaign group Plan B, as well as councils, residents, the Mayor of London and various environmental groups, argued that the plans couldn’t possibly be consistent with the Paris agreement. These were dismissed by the High Court in May 2019, and were subsequently taken to the Court of Appeal, culminating in the 26 February verdict.
Proponents of the expansion included a number of business groups. CBI deputy director general Josh Hardie suggested the ruling might even undermine the UK’s aim to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. He said the decision ” risks holding back the very investment in innovation needed to achieve that, and the ambitions of many businesses eager to benefit from greater international connectivity.”
If the plans had been given the go-ahead, the third runway could have been completed by 2028, bringing in around 700 more planes per day. Some critics argued that the economic benefits would have been offset by the need to invest taxpayers’ money in updated road and rail infrastructure to support the airport.
The government said it would not attempt to appeal this latest ruling. Heathrow Airport said it intended to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Opponents of the expansion had lodged individual appeals, each on separate grounds, specifically on climate, air quality and noise. The Airport said that the latter two had been dismissed by the judge, while the first was “eminently fixable”.
