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The UK government’s decision to build a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport has been found to be illegal because of its failure to consider the Paris climate deal.
Environmental campaigners, the mayor of London Sadiq Khan and several of the city’s local authorities had brought a legal challenge against the government’s planning decision to approve the runway in 2018.
They argued that the government had failed to account for the Paris climate agreement’s goals to hold global temperature rises to 1.5°C or well below 2°C. Today the UK Court of Appeal upheld that challenge.
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“The Paris [climate] agreement ought to have been taken into consideration by the secretary of state,” one of the judges said in the ruling.
The controversial expansion at Heathrow has been criticised for making the UK’s legally-binding carbon targets hard to meet, and endangering the capital’s local air quality.
The ruling is groundbreaking, says Plan B, the UK charity that led the successful challenge. “The judgement might seem like bad news for businesses and investors in the carbon economy, who will have to reconcile their plans with the 1.5˚C limit.
“But really it is good news for everyone, since all of us – including businesses and investors – depend on maintaining the conditions, which keep the planet habitable,” said Tim Crosland at the charity, in a statement.
Green groups including WWF and Greenpeace welcomed the decision, while the Liberal Democrat party said the ruling should be used as an opportunity to cancel the plan to build a third runway.
Heathrow Airport says it will appeal to the Supreme Court. New Scientist has contacted the Department of Transport for comment.
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