The Friends of the Earth victory in the battle against a third runway at Heathrow Airport will be defended in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 7.
Following the environmental campaigners' triumph in the
Court of Appeal earlier this year, Heathrow Airport Limited has
appealed to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch bid to rescue its
plan for the runway.
Lawyers for Friends of the Earth will argue that
Court of Appeal judges were right to rule that the Government's
decision to give the runway the go-ahead in the Airports National
Policy Statement (ANPS) was unlawful.
They ruled that the Government could not ignore its international
climate change commitments under the Paris Agreement, which
requires the UK to sharply and quickly reduce its investment in
fossil fuel infrastructure.
Judges said the Secretary of State for Transport (then Chris
Grayling) had breached s10 of the Planning Act 2008, and acted
irrationally by disregarding the Paris Agreement, the non-CO2
warming impacts of aviation, and the effects of climate change
beyond 2050. He also breached his duty to undertake a lawful
strategic environmental assessment in accordance with the
requirements of the SEA Directive and the SEA Regulations.
Following the judgment, the Government and Arora Holdings decided
not to pursue their legal case any further, but Heathrow Airport
Limited pressed on and was granted permission to appeal to the
Supreme Court.
Friends of the Earth is represented by Leigh Day solicitors and
barristers David Wolfe QC of Matrix Chambers, Peter Lockley of 11
Kings Bench Walk Chambers and Andrew Parkinson of Landmark
Chambers.
Will Rundle, head of legal at Friends of the Earth,
said:
"Without the government in the picture, this case has become
one about business interests versus the wellbeing of people
everywhere facing the impact of the climate crisis.
"The Court of Appeal rightly ruled against the expansion of
Heathrow, and we're now here to defend our historic win for the
planet. The government accepted illegal advice to ignore the Paris
Climate Agreement when making the initial decision to approve the
third runway. Heathrow is now trying to completely ignore this fact
with its appeal.
"We are pleased that the Supreme Court will now make an
authoritative ruling and remain confident the court will re-affirm
that the Paris Agreement cannot be ignored, and all the damaging
climate impacts ofHeathrow expansion must be fully considered in
any decision over expansion."
Jenny Bates, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth,
said:
"As we plan for a future in the wake of the dreadful Covid-19
pandemic, it's key that the UK invests in low-carbon, resilient
infrastructure and creates green jobs in sectors such as clean
transport, renewable energy and home insulation. A new runway at
Heathrow is the opposite of what we need to be building. It would
lead to a huge increase in emissions and undermine the UK's
duty to fight the climate crisis.
"Heathrow has talked up easy fixes to get the Third Runway
pushed through, but these fixes rely on undeveloped technology, and
ineffective carbon offsetting to make their plans appear more
climate friendly."
Rowan Smith,
solicitor in the environmental law
team at Leigh Day, said:
"We trust that the Supreme Court will agree with the Court of
Appeal when it concluded that there was absolutely no legal means
by which the Government could ignore its international climate
change commitments under the Paris Agreement
"They made it clear that such an omission fatally undermined
the lawfulness of the policy to allow a third runway at Heathrow
Airport.
"The Lord Justices simply followed the legal framework set by
Parliament and found that the Secretary of State was legally bound
to consider the Paris Agreement which was so obviously material to
a decision on Heathrow Airport expansion."
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