THIRD RUNWAY REVIEW MUST BEGIN

PRESS RELEASE

19 July 2022

For immediate use

 

THIRD RUNWAY REVIEW MUST BEGIN

 

Following the publication today (19 July) of the Government’s Jet Zero Strategy (JZS), campaigners against plans to expand Heathrow Airport are now calling on the Government to review and withdraw these plans, as set out in its Airports National Policy Statement (1).

 

The JZS aims to halve emissions from 38.2 megatonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) emitted in 2019, to 19.3MtCO2 by 2050. Heathrow expansion is estimated to create an additional 7MtCO2 per annum in addition to the 20MtCO2 per annum it already emits. Even allowing for a small reduction in emissions between now and 2050, this target seems grossly optimistic and places significant faith in the development of technologies that are in their infancy or do not yet exist to help deliver the decarbonisation of aviation.

 

The strategy ignores advice from the Government’s Climate Change Committee, which advised seeing if technologies such as ‘Sustainable’ Aviation Fuels and electric flight deliver at a pace fast enough to see a substantial reduction in emissions. It is also unclear as to whether the strategy has the support of the next Prime Minister, given the Jet Zero Council and Strategy was a creation of Boris Johnson’s Government.

 

The Government previously said that it would reassess whether to review the Airports National Policy Statement on Heathrow Expansion once the Jet Zero Strategy was finalised (2).

 

Campaigners believe this long-overdue review is now vital, and the only realistic solution is for the Government to withdraw policy support for a third runway at Heathrow (3). Only yesterday (18 July) the Government’s plans for Net Zero emissions by 2050 were ruled unlawful, on the basis that their vagueness raises questions as to whether the targets would actually be met (4).

 

Further, since Parliament designated the ANPS in 2018, the carbon abatement costs of Heathrow expansion have doubled, from £50bn to £100bn wiping out any claimed economic benefit that the project might have delivered (5).

 

Justine Bayley, Chair of Stop Heathrow Expansion, said:

 

“It is ironic that the launch of the Government’s Jet Zero Strategy came on the day when the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK was at Heathrow Airport. However sustainable and well-meaning elements of the strategy might be, the elephant in the room remains the plans to expand Heathrow. We cannot have a third runway there and expect the 260,000 additional flights per year to be running off vegetable oils or electric batteries: it’s just not realistic.

 

“The facts are quite clear. The best thing the Government can do to decarbonise aviation is to abandon plans for a third runway at Heathrow. Heathrow is the single largest polluter in the UK with its emissions accounting for over half of all UK aviation emissions. If a third runway is allowed then approximately seven extra megatonnes of carbon dioxide would be added to the twenty megatonnes it already emits annually. It would be unconscionable, not to mention illegal, to allow this.

 

“Another factor we can’t escape is the need for political buy-in on the Jet Zero Strategy from the new prime minister. Have those seeking to succeed Boris Johnson agreed to implement this strategy, or would they have a different approach?”

 

ENDS.

 

Notes:

  1. Jet Zero Strategy, published 19 July 2022: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1091834/jet-zero-strategy.pdf

  2. Government say they will reassess whether to review the Airports National Policy Statement once Jet Zero plans are published, 6 September 2021. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1015207/decision-on-requests-to-review-the-anps.pdf

  3. Campaigners and MPs outside Parliament holding a banner “Jet Zero: Without Zero Expansion Is Just More Hot Air’ in September 2021, at the time of the Jet Zero consultation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f5ac8422482e231871561f/1631575173627-7GSQMZKBM7RDQUOZP7AC/Screenshot+2021-09-08+at+13.38.31.png?format=2500w

  4. Net Zero plans ruled unlawful, 18 July 2022 https://goodlawproject.org/news/we-won-net-zero/

  5. Carbon abatements of Heathrow expansion doubles, according to Government guidance https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/22/cleanup-cost-of-heathrow-third-runway-doubles-to-100bn-mps-told

 

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