Member Article

Govt risks breaching emissions laws if Heathrow expansion goes ahead

Expansion at Heathrow Airport risks breaching the government’s own greenhouse gas emission laws unless other sectors pick up the slack, according to an independent advisory body.

The Climate Change Commission (CCC) has raised doubts about the government’s business case for a third runway in relation to emissions, and warned that increased capacity at the airport would require other industries to make even deeper cuts in their emissions.

In a letter to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, the CCC voiced concerns about the government’s estimate that aviation emissions will rise by 15% by 2050 due to increased demand for air travel.

It said that, while demand has increased by 11% in the last decade, advancements in technology had meant that aviation emissions were actually below their 2005 levels.

According to the CCC’s estimates, technological advances and innovation should allow a 60% increase in air traffic capacity between 2005 and 2050 while still keeping emissions at their 2005 level.

However, it said that a ‘central case’ in the government’s business case for a third runway at Heathrow assumes a 15% increase in aviation emissions by 2050 which, if accurate, would mean ‘all sectors would have to prepare for correspondingly higher emission reductions by 2050’.

Lord Debden, writes: “Aviation emissions at 2005 levels already imply an 85% reduction in emissions in all other sectors. My Committee has limited confidence about the options for other sectors to go beyond these levels by 2050.”

In response, a spokesperson at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, told the BBC that the government supports the Airport Commission’s conclusions that expansion at Heathrow would not breach emissions guidelines.

They said: “We are considering how we will continue to reduce our emissions across the economy through the 2020s and will set this out in our emissions reduction plan, which will send an important signal to the markets, businesses and investors.

“Our commitment to meeting our Climate Change Act target of an at least 80% emissions reduction below 1990 levels by 2050 is as strong as ever.”