Heathrow Expansion and Climate Targets

Heathrow expansion is tied to a wider question: how the UK can accommodate aviation growth while reducing emissions in line with its carbon budgets and net-zero target.

The Climate Change Committee has said current policies do not provide a credible path for reconciling expansion with those goals, and points to measures such as more efficient flying, sustainable aviation fuel and permanent carbon removal. The debate also concerns who should pay for aviation’s climate impacts, how costs could affect fares and demand, and whether planned removals can be delivered at the scale required.