Blocked
Heathrow Airport Expansion Celebrated by Climate Activists
Jordan Davidson
Feb. 28,
2020 01:28PM EST
Aircraft
come in to land at Heathrow airport over horses in a field on Feb. 27, 2020 in
London, England. Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled
illegal. Chris J Ratcliffe / Getty Images
The British
government's plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050 conflicts with its
long-standing plan to level a village to expand Heathrow Airport, one of the
world's busiest airport hubs. Now an appeals court in Britain has ruled that
the expansion is illegal since the government did not take into account how
building a third runway would jibe with the government's commitment to fight
the climate crisis, according to The Guardian.
Heathrow
currently handles around 80 million passengers per year. A third runway would
cost nearly $18 billion to build and would increase traffic by about 700 planes
per day, spurring a huge rise in carbon emissions, according to The Guardian
The court ruled
that the British government made firm commitment to the Paris agreement, but
did not work that into its plans, as CNN reported. Climate activists who
brought the suit celebrated the decision on the court steps.
"We
have not found that a national policy statement supporting this project is
necessarily incompatible with the United Kingdom's commitment to reducing
carbon emissions and mitigating climate change under the Paris Agreement, or
with any other policy the Government may adopt or international obligation it
may undertake," the judges wrote in their ruling, according to CNN.
"The
Paris Agreement ought to have been taken into account by the Secretary of State
... and an explanation given as to how it was taken into account, but it was
not," the judges added.
The future
plans of the proposed third runway, which Heathrow has wanted to build for 20
years, are uncertain. Heathrow Airport said it would appeal the decision to the
country's Supreme Court, but the British government said it would not appeal
the verdict, according to a tweet from Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps
who was the defendant in the case.
"Airport
expansion is core to boosting global connectivity. We also take seriously our
commitment to the environment. This Govt won't appeal today's judgment given
our manifesto makes clear any #Heathrow expansion will be industry led,"
Shapps wrote on Twitter.
Heathrow
Airport CEO John Holland-Kaye said they would ask the Supreme Court to rule
because "We think the appeals court got it wrong," as the BBC
reported.
However,
Heathrow does not have a friend in Prime Minister Boris Johnson who has opposed
the third runway, saying in 2015 that he would "lie down in front of those
bulldozers and stop the construction."
"This
is definitely the beginning of the end for the third runway," said Rob
Barnstone, of the No Third Runway Coalition, to The Guardian. "It is a
very important ruling not just for Heathrow but for all projects. If the
government thinks they are going to put forward big infrastructure projects and
not take climate change seriously, well, they won't be able to get away with
it."
Construction
of the third runway would have crossed a busy and congested motorway. It would
also require about 750 homes in nearby villages to be flattened, according to
CNN.
Climate
activists celebrated the decision for the message it sends for all future
infrastructure projects.
"This
judgment has exciting wider implications for keeping climate change at the
heart of all planning decisions," Will Rundle, head of legal at Friends of
the Earth, said in a statement, as CNN reported. "It's time for developers
and public authorities to be held to account when it comes to the climate
impact of their damaging developments."
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