Heathrow Airport’s plans for a third runway face being blocked after a landmark Court of Appeal defeat over climate change.
A group of councils in London affected by the expansion, environmental charities including Greenpeace, Friends Of The Earth and Plan B, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, brought legal action over the Government’s approval of the plans.
Top judges issued a historic ruling against the £14billion expansion plans for Britain’s busiest airport in a massive victory for green groups and London mayor Sadiq Khan .
Giving their ruling on Thursday, Lords Justice Lindblom, Singh and Haddon-Cave said the Government failed to take account of its commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change when setting out its support for the airport expansion in its National Policy Statement (NPS).
Heathrow Airport had hoped to build a privately-funded third runway by 2026 funded entirely by private cash – and after years of delays MPs backed it 415-119 in 2018. But those plans are now hurled into chaos.
The Court of Appeal ruled not against the plans themselves but against the government’s procedure in drawing up a National Policy Statement on airport capacity.