🔎 What’s going on?
London Heathrow Airports’ third runway plans ruled illegal by the UK’s Court of Appeal, mentioning the 2015 Paris Agreement (international climate agreement) as grounds for ruling.
🛫 Wow, that’s really momentous! What just happened?
According to the Court of Appeal (the second-highest court in the UK’s legal system), transport government ministers failed to take climate change commitments (i.e. the Paris Agreement, which the UK signed and agreed in November 2016) into account when approving plans (way back in 2018) for runway expansion.
For the first time in the world, a court of law has confirmed that the Paris Agreement is binding when considering an infrastructure plan. This sets a legal precedent, meaning this case will be used as a rule for all similar cases in the future, not just in the UK but globally. Especially any large scale infrastructure projects, with the potential to produce lots of emissions. The Department of Transport has confirmed that they will not be appealing this decision.
❓Why should I care?
We know that globally the transportation sector contributes significantly to both climate change and air pollution - 14% of global emissions. Airlines, as a sector are really behind in reducing their emissions (just take a look here ), relying on carbon offsetting to achieve their target of net-zero by 2050.
🚦 Where do we need to be?
The UK’s commitment to the Paris Agreement needs to be at the heart of every decision made by every sector’s future plans. From agriculture, energy, finance, infrastructure to transport sector.
👤What can I do about it?
Since flying contributes to carbon emissions and the aviation industry is miles behind in reducing emissions. Here are some of your options to reduce your carbon impact:
- Reduce flying as much as possible
- If your airlines don’t already offset your flight, then please consider doing it yourself. It’s not the ideal solution as it doesn’t reduce their emissions. But it’s the lesser evil so to speak. Check out myclimate to offset your flights.