Construction of Heathrow Airport's third runway is not guaranteed to go ahead despite December's Supreme Court ruling lifting the ban on the expansion plan. Environmental group Friends of the Earth - which challenged the third runway plan - said that expansion is still "far from certain", while Heathrow Hub which has rival plans to expand the airport maintains that the cost of the third runway remains prohibitive. Heathrow Airport Ltd's (HAL's) expansion plan was blocked by the Court of Appeal in February 2020 on the grounds that it failed to take into account climate change commitments made under the 2016 Paris Agreement. Although the Supreme Court ruled that the Paris Agreement was adequately considered, Friends of the Earth head of legal Will Rundle said that the judgement is "no 'green light' for expansion". He added: "It makes clear that full climate considerations remain to be addressed and resolved at the planning stage. Heathrow expansion remains very far from certain and we now look forward to stopping the third runway in the planning arena."
展开▼
