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Heathrow legal challenge

No Third Runway badge, Feb 2010

In February 2010 WWF-UK and other leading green groups, along with local councils and residents’ groups, made their their case against the government’s plans to expand Heathrow Airport with a third runway.

The case was heard in open court because of the significant public interest element and the need for clarification over the Transport Secretary’s statement to parliament in January 2009, in which he gave the green light to the third runway.


The coalition argues that the decision is incompatible with the government’s climate change policy. Since the case was filed, the Committee on Climate Change has published a report into aviation. The Committee found that to meet the government’s target of returning aviation emissions to 2005 levels by 2050, 600,000 flights per year will have to be cut by 2050, compared to the scenario set out in the Government’s Air Transport White Paper.

WWF argues that the seven-year old White Paper will now have to be overhauled, because it is inconsistent with climate change targets. Since the White Paper was also the basis for expanding Heathrow, that decision must now be reversed.

This judicial review is another way to demonstrate to the government that WWF and many other groups will not accept UK airport expansion, unless radically cleaner planes can make it compatible with a low-carbon economy, which is not foreseen in the near future.

Find out what happened at court here

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We are delighted to have the opportunity to challenge the government’s flawed thinking in giving the third runway the go-ahead. Allowing expansion at Heathrow runs completely counter to the government's efforts to position itself as a leader in the fight against climate change. It will also make it nigh-on impossible for the UK to meet its carbon budget without seriously restricting other sections of the economy.

David Norman, WWF's Director of Campaigns