Friends of the Earth becomes the fifth litigant to date against the 拢15bn project. It is challenging the legal basis of the government鈥檚 decision to designate the airports national policy statement (NPS) as it fails to address the UK鈥檚 climate change obligations.
Also filing suit, citing varying greivances, are: the Mayor of London and a coalition of local authorities; rival scheme promoter Heathrow Hub; climate change charity Plan B; and environment campaign Greenpeace.
Law firm Leigh Day, on behalf of Friends of the Earth, filed papers with the High Court on 6th August 2018 asking for the airports NPS published in June to be quashed. The environmental organisation claims that the NPS fails to account for all the impacts on future generations, who will be left with the adverse consequences of growth from aviation-increasing climate impacts.
Friends of the Earth director of campaigns Liz Hutchins said: 鈥淭he government鈥檚 airports strategy completely ignores its obligations to tackle climate change - this is short-sighted, incredibly reckless and we believe it is unlawful.
鈥淎llowing the aviation industry to pump more pollution into the atmosphere will make it far harder to prevent catastrophic climate change 鈥� and leaves future generations to suffer the consequences.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time to end our reliance on the fossil fuels that are already roasting our planet and threatening peoples鈥� lives, homes and livelihoods.鈥�
A decision on whether there will be a full hearing about these issues is expected to be made this autumn.
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