UK court overturns decision to block Heathrow third runway

Heathrow Airport on Wednesday won a Supreme Court challenge over a ruling that the government’s decision to approve a controversial third runway was illegal.

The UK’s highest court overturned a ruling in February that former transport secretary Chris Grayling failed to take account of government commitments to tackle climate change when outlining support for the project in an Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS).

Seen as a major win for environmentalists, the Court of Appeal in February said the ANPS was unlawful because Grayling failed to take account of the 2015 Paris climate change accord – which committed signatories to take measures to limit global warming to well below 2C.

However, summarising the result of a two-day hearing before a panel of five justices in October, the Supreme Court’s Lord Sales on Wednesday said Grayling had been lawful and he was under “no obligation” to discuss the Paris Agreement separately.

The ruling means the airport can now seek a development consent order, however, this would have to take into consideration stricter pledges to cut emissions made recently by the UK government, which had accepted the February decision.

Since the runway was approved in 2018, the UK has committed to net zero emissions by 2050 and earlier this month pledged to cut carbon emissions by 68% by 2030.

Before the coronavirus pandemic hammered the air travel industry, Heathrow handled 80m passengers a year and recently lost its dubious crown as Europe’s busiest to Paris Charles de Gaulle.

The £14bn third runway would bring 700 more planes a day and, with them a rise in carbon emissions. However, after the impact of Covid-19 travel restrictions, Heathrow said the runway could be delayed by five years from its original 2028 completion date.