Third runway appeal – all submissions now with judges
HEATHROW: The Supreme Court appeal over the decision to block the building of a third runway at Heathrow came to a close last week, writes George Roberts.
In 2018, former Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling designated a document called the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), supporting the development of the runway.
Legal action has been taken since by climate campaigners hoping to stop the plans going ahead.
A Court of Appeal judgement found that the designation of the ANPS was unlawful and that it failed to take into account the Government’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change.
On Thursday,
October 8, David Wolfe QC, acting for Friends of the Earth, stated that Mr Grayling was ‘running on the assumption that he was entitled not to regard the Paris Agreement’ when he supported the third runway.
Tim Crosland, director of Plan B, argued that failure to meet the Paris Agreement would equate to the Government going back on its own policy.
“The policy is the temperature goal, that’s what everyone’s aiming at,” he said. “This position is restated by the Government’s 25-year plan.
“What’s needed is leadership, what’s needed is diplomacy. That can only be shown if the Government commits to the Paris Agreement.”
In response, Lord George Leggatt said: “There’s a difference between an aspiration of reducing global temperatures and a policy.
“The policy is not the aspiration, it’s the formulated plan to go towards it.
“You can say we have an aspiration that we want peace throughout the world, but that’s not a Government policy.”
A decision is not expected to be made until January.