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Court of Appeal downs Heathrow third runway scheme

THE future of Heathrow Airport’s expansion proposal was left uncertain today after the Court of Appeal ruled that the government had failed to consider its impact on existing climate-change commitments.

Judges said former transport secretary Chris Grayling hadn’t taken Britain’s signing of the 2016 Paris Agreement into account when he announced government backing for the site’s third runway in a national policy statement (NPS).

A group of councils in London affected by the expansion brought the appeal to court, along with environmental groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth (FotE) and Plan B, as well as London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The ruling means that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will have to review the NPS to ensure it accords with the government's commitments on climate change.

Labour shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the ruling was a “victory” not just for campaigners but also for “the billions of people, including everyone in this country, who could be affected terribly by climate change.”

He said: "Because the Tories have dragged their feet, Britain is way off-track to meet its climate targets. Expanding Heathrow would have been totally incompatible with acting to prevent global heating.

"We should all be alarmed that the government is so unwilling to defend people from climate change that we rely on the courts — and brave campaigners — to oppose the Tories’ illegal and destructive policies."

Some union representatives voiced disappointment at the ruling, warning of the impact on jobs.

GMB London regional secretary Warren Kenny said: “Air travel has played a fundamental role in creating our contemporary networked world and restricting connectivity is a very backward step for humanity.

“So if this decision stands it is a very backward step for the population of London, expected to grow to 11 million people by 2040. It will be negative for the economy of the entire country.”

Environmental campaigners hailed the ruling as a victory and said it had "killed off" plans for a third runway for good.

Paul McGuinness of the No 3rd Runway Coalition said the project was now "politically unacceptable."

Stop Heathrow Expansion’s Geraldine Nicholson called the decision “the final nail in the coffin” for Heathrow expansion, and said the next step was to make sure “the threat of a third runway does not come back.”

Plan B director Tim Crosland said: “It would have been hard to imagine this outcome even a couple of years ago, but as the scale and impacts of the ecological crisis become clearer, with people dying and being displaced in the UK and around the world, it’s vital we reject the politics of division and unite amidst adversity.

“Some sanity is finally prevailing. It’s now clear that our governments can’t keep claiming commitment to the Paris Agreement while simultaneously taking actions that blatantly contradict it.”

Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said the government needed to ground Heathrow’s expansion plans permanently.

He said: “The third runway is already on its knees over costs, noise, air pollution, habitat-loss and lack of access, and now Heathrow Ltd has yet another impossibly high hurdle to clear.

“No amount of spin from Heathrow’s PR machine can obscure the carbon logic of a new runway.”

FotE head of legal Will Rundle claimed a third runway "would have had dire implications for present and future generations.”

He said: "It's time for developers and public authorities to be held to account when it comes to the climate impact of their damaging developments."

Mr Shapps said the government would not appeal the judgement, and claimed the Tory Party takes seriously its commitments on the environment.

He said Westminster would “carefully consider this complex judgement” before setting out its next steps.

Heathrow Airport insisted it will press on with expansion, appeal to the Supreme Court and work with the government on the climate-change issue.

“Expanding Heathrow, Britain’s biggest port and only hub, is essential to achieving the Prime Minister’s vision of Global Britain,” they said.

“We will get it done the right way, without jeopardising the planet’s future. Let’s get Heathrow done.”

Heathrow said it could open the third runway "between early 2028 and late 2029." The previous target date was 2026.

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