WWF UK is leading a coalition of environmental groups, alongside councils and residents, to battle against the government’s decision to expand Heathrow airport with a new runway. The coalition claims that the third runway will breach UK legal limits on noise and air pollution that in turn will seriously undermine government climate change targets.
WWF UK director of campaigns, David Norman, said –
The decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow blows the chances of setting the UK onto a low carbon pathway completely out of the water. If the targets set in the Climate Change Act are to be meaningful, the government must stop adopting policies that undermine them.
The coalition also claim that the consultation process for the new runway was flawed and that the costs of the project had not been properly assessed and will not benefit the economy. If the legal challenge is successful, the government may also be forced to review its entire aviation policy, with plans already afoot to expand nearly 30 airports across the UK.
The coalition is backed by Transport for London and London mayor Boris Johnson, alongside wildlife charities such as Greenpeace, WWF UK and the RSPB, all claiming that the expansion will increase carbon emissions incompatible with the need for climate change. If the third runway goes ahead the village of Sipson would have to be demolished, with the number of flights increasing by 220,000 a year.
How that can be seen as helping towards the decrease in global warming is anyone’s guess…
