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In a landmark decision earlier this year, a British appeals court halted plans to expand Heathrow airport outside of London, citing the Paris Agreement.
The court ruled that the decision in the process had not been taken in a formally correct way: “The Paris Agreement should have been included in the calculations by the government. The expansion plans were not made in the manner prescribed by law ”, stated the Court of Appeal.
It was the first time in the world as a court stopped a large infrastructure project with reference to the Paris Agreement and the environmental organizations that led the case were satisfied.
The British government decided not to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, which the Heathrow management did.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court, HD, announced that it will annul the verdict in a lower instance. HD does not consider that the formal requirements referred to in the previous sentence are sufficient to stop the project.
A plane enters to land at Heathrow Airport, one of the largest in Europe.
Photo: David Dyson / TT
Plans to expand Heathrow Airport with a third runway have been in place since 2003. The current plan was presented by the Conservative government in 2017, that is, two years after the Paris Agreement was finalized.
The goal of expansion is that Heathrow will consolidate its position as the largest airport in Europe and will have a third runway ready in 2029. The expansion is estimated to cost 14 billion pounds, equivalent to just over 170 billion crowns, and will provide space for 700 additional planes per day and thus significantly increase carbon dioxide emissions.
Environmental organizations have protested against the plans and the decision was appealed, including by an organization called Plan B. In the first instance, the government was right, but in February Plan B won a historic victory in the Court of Appeals, but now the Court Supreme has annulled that sentence.
Heathrow was previously the largest airport in Europe, but it passed through Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport in October. It currently has four runways. Last year Heathrow handled 80.9 million passengers, while 76.1 million passed through Charles de Gaulle.
