06 May 2020
The Supreme Court has given Heathrow Airport permission to appeal a ruling that its plan for a third runway was unlawful
The decision this week, in R (oao Friends of the Earth & others) v Heathrow Airport, sets the scene for a showdown between the airport and climate change campaigners. The decision was made by Lords Reed, Hodge and Sales. No date has yet been set for the hearing.
The Court of
Appeal held in February that the government’s Airports National Policy
Statement allowing the third runway to go ahead failed to take account of the
UK’s responsibilities under the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The Paris
Agreement, which the UK ratified in 2016, enshrined an aspiration to achieve
net zero emissions of greenhouse gases.
