For years there has been talk of expanding Heathrow airport, a proposal which has been met with several challenges. The latest obstacle occurred on 27th February when the Court of Appeal ruled that the government’s decision to allow the expansion to go ahead was unlawful because the plans failed to take into account climate commitments. The court ruling has divided parliament and been met with both concern and elation by the public.

 “An absolutely ground-breaking result for climate justice”

Friends of the Earth

The government have announced that they will not appeal the court ruling, saying it is now “for Heathrow and the courts to decide” whether expansion should go ahead.

What are the expansion plans?

Heathrow expansion will be a privately funded, expensive and lengthy project. The major part of the expansion consists of diverting rivers, moving roads and rerouting the M25 through a tunnel, in order to build a third runway by 2028/2029. On top of this there are plans to upgrade terminals two and five and build new car parks, with work continuing until 2050.

There are numerous potential benefits and drawbacks to the proposed plans, which has led to a long history of discussion about whether the expansion should go ahead.

There has been a fluctuation of support for the project in parliament:

Prompted by last year’s Conservative manifesto, Heathrow agreed to introduce legally binding targets relating to noise pollution, air quality and carbon emissions. But would this be enough considering the environmental impacts of the project?

Heathrow expansion would have three main environmental impacts:

1) Increased noise pollution

For residents who live near airports and under flight paths, noise pollution is a significant issue.

The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) have already put in place several techniques to reduce noise pollution:

However, further measures have been proposed in the event of Heathrow expansion, including:

• A ‘noise envelope’ to legally bind Heathrow within certain noise limits
• An Independent Aviation Noise Committee to oversee all procedures  
• A six-and-a-half-hour ban on night flights
• A noise levy to encourage the use of quieter planes
• A £700 million government budget for noise insulation for local residents

2) Increased carbon emissions

Heathrow expansion could have a huge impact on the climate change goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Since 2018, aviation has accounted for 6% of UK emissions and this is expected to increase to 25% by 2050.

According to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), cutting carbon emissions could be partly achieved by improving aircraft operation and fuel efficiency and increasing the use of bio-fuels. However, they make it clear that zero carbon aviation is highly unlikely to be feasible by 2050.

“Demand management and…demand reductions are going to be essential”

Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP in the House of commons on 02/03/20.

The CCC have called on the government to publish a strategy framework to limit UK aviation emissions to 2005 levels, which could require cutting airport capacity. If the new runway goes ahead, there will have to be emissions cuts in other sectors of the economy.

3) Breaching of air pollution safety levels

The UK started breaching EU limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 2010. NO2 is produced from diesel engines and is linked to respiratory illnesses. Heathrow is a hot spot for NO2 pollution due to the heavy traffic around the airport. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) predicted that even without expansion the A4 (north of Heathrow) would still exceed safety limits for NO2 in 2030. Heathrow claim that expansion would only lead to a ‘marginal’ increase in air pollution overall due to significant reductions elsewhere, for example through increased used of electric cars. But would this reduce emissions enough to warrant airport expansion?

As a biologist and conservationist, I believe that another crucial issue is the impact on local ecosystems and biodiversity. A recent BBC article claimed that “one area in which there is little dispute over the benefits of Heathrow’s expansion is in regard to wildlife. The airport has committed to a £105m plan to transform a green area near the airport, into a haven four times the size of Hyde Park”. I’ll be honest, this really frustrated me. Building on land, rerouting rivers and changing the urban and rural landscape will inevitably affect wildlife, especially because species inter-connectivity means that if one species is affected there may be a ripple effect throughout the whole ecosystem. This commitment to a new green space is a good start but it certainly does not fully mitigate the impact that expansion will have on wildlife.

In my opinion, the court ruling was necessary to ensure that in the event of Heathrow expansion there is extensive consideration of the issues I have mentioned. However, there would also need to be strategies put in place to reduce the impact on wildlife, biodiversity and ecosystems.

What happens next?

According to the judges at the court ruling, Heathrow expansion could still go ahead as long it meets the UK’s climate change commitments. Besides this, the court ruling may have wider repercussions…

“This judgement 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

According to the BBC, new plans for a £28.8 billion roads programme breach the UK’s laws on climate change. It is thought that these plans are likely to face legal challenges from environmental groups. Will this project face the same fate as Heathrow expansion?

Let me know what you think about the Heathrow expansion debate in the comments below.

Recommended reading:

• BBC News. (2016) Reality Check: Is new runway more important post-Brexit?
• Bell, B. (2016) The villages living under Heathrow’s death sentence. BBC News.
• Edgington, T. (2020) Heathrow expansion: What is the third runway plan? BBC News.
• Espiner, T. (2020) Climate Campaigners Win Heathrow Expansion Case. BBC News.
• Harrabin, R. (2020) New Roads Face Heathrow-Style Court Action Threat. BBC News.
• Heathrow press releases. (2016) Heathrow to invest £105m to create once in a generation green spaces boost with expansion. Heathrow Media Centre.
• Kuenssberg, L. (2018) Heathrow Airport: ‘Where’s Boris?’ shout opposition MPs. BBC News.
• McGrath, M. (2016) The environmental costs of Heathrow expansion. BBC News.
• Also worth checking out the debate in the House of Commons