LONDON – On Thursday, the court ruled the planned expansion of the Heathrow Airport in London as unlawful on environmental grounds.
This ruling sinks the $18 billion project which has been in the talks with much dispute and indecision for a couple of decades now.
The ruling came as a victory for those campaigning for climate change. The judge said that preventing to take in the government’s climate change commitments will be legally fatal to the plans of building Heathrow airport’s third runway.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been a stern and vocal opponent of the expansion project, which was given the green signal under the previous government.
If the new runway project must proceed, a policy statement amendment is needed from the Department of Transport. However, on Thursday, the Department of Transport remained silent on the matter.
“We take seriously our commitments on the environment, clean air and reducing carbon emissions. We will carefully consider this complex judgment and set out our next steps in due course.”
– Grant Shapps, Transport Minister
Supporters of the decision argue that Heathrow airport expansion is critical in order to ensure that Britain can increase trade with the rest of the world.
Being the UK’s biggest port by value and Europe’s largest airport, it’s safe to say that the two runways are currently operating at full capacity.
A decade ago, a new runway plan was scrapped before a three-year study was carried out by a government-appointed commission which recommended the expansion in 2015, which is the latest project.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.