Heathrow Expansion and Climate Targets

Heathrow expansion raises the question of how airport growth can be reconciled with the UK’s carbon budgets and net-zero target.

The Climate Change Committee has said current policies do not provide a credible route for accommodating expansion while reducing aviation emissions sufficiently. Proposed measures include more efficient flying, sustainable aviation fuels and permanent carbon removal, with airlines potentially required to fund the climate costs. The debate also concerns whether these measures can be delivered at the necessary scale and how their costs could affect airfares and flight demand.