I deeply sympathise with the government’s frantic efforts to provide some momentum for our faltering economy. The construction of a third runway at Heathrow, however, would be a step backwards for the government’s ambitions to secure a better future for our children.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves believes that an expansion of Heathrow would “unlock further growth, boost investment, increase exports, and make the UK more open and more connected.” Supporting a significant expansion of Heathrow Airport, Reeves and her government chose to prioritise this economic growth over climate change mitigation. However, it is undeniable that, to achieve a prosperous future for the UK, both these aims must be pursued.
I write weeks after it emerged that 2024’s average temperature passed the critical 1.5C average. 2024 was the first calendar year in which this happened, bringing us closer to breaking the long-term average target – it’s unnecessary to reiterate what the significance of crossing this threshold would be. Our priority as a nation must be to never allow this to happen.
The Chancellor’s claim that “sustainable aviation and economic growth go hand-in-hand” seems at best improbable and at worst delusional. The technology for creating electric planes, for one, which could rival those that pass through Heathrow today simply does not exist. One journalist calculated that a battery-powered Boeing 777 attempting to cross the Atlantic would have to weigh as much as the Eiffel Tower. As it stands today, low-carbon aviation is a dream, not an economically literate reality.
The government must continue to search for ways to improve the UK’s economic prospects; large infrastructure projects might well help. However, such a significant expansion of the country’s aviation industry – one of the sectors most unlikely to become sufficiently less carbon-intensive anytime soon – is simply not the best way forward. It is important that our net zero commitments do not suffer further.
“London’s Heathrow Airport” by M McBey is licensed under CC BY 2.0.