The UK’s regional airports will be unable to expand if Heathrow gets its third runway, because more development would mean the Government will miss its climate targets, an adviser has warned.
Committee on Climate Change chairman Lord Deben told Sky News that Heathrow’s expansion would use up the majority of the envelope the aviation industry would have between now and 2050, implying that other expansions should not be permitted if Britain is to hit its climate targets.
He said Heathrow expansion would have knock-on consequences for the rest of the aviation sector, which is expected to keep creating greenhouse gases in future decades since carbon-neutral plane engines are still thought to be a long way off.
He was speaking weeks after the Government pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero in net terms by 2050.
Lord Deben told Sky: "If Heathrow is built it has to be built within the envelope of emissions which we have allowed for aviation. It has knock-on effects. It means you can’t build similar things elsewhere in the country.
"You’re not going to be able to have expansions of a different kind elsewhere. You can’t have [Heathrow’s third runway] and other things.
"It is for the government to decide what we as a nation put our priorities in. But it has to realise that it can’t move outside those parameters."
When MPs approved Heathrow’s expansion, they did not know the move may have prevented development elsewhere.
The Airport Operators Association (AOA), said it doesn’t believe aviation limits would prevent expansion of activity, provided new technologies improved plane efficiency.
However, the CCC said its report it had adjusted for anticipated improvements in technologies, and that its advice stood.
