Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer urged the government to deny Gatwick Airport a Development Consent Order, which it says it is applying for [1] and would allow the airport to create a second runway in a major expansion of its capacity.
Carla said:
“This is an immediate test for the government, coming just days after its own Climate Change Committee said there could be no more airport expansions, if it was to stand any chance of hitting its net zero goals [2].
“A second runway at Gatwick would be a disaster for the climate and could result in an extra 1.5 million tonnes of carbon emitted each year [3], at a time when the government’s own advisers say it is struggling to meet existing greenhouse gas reduction targets.
“The government could save everyone a lot of time, effort and worry by refusing this application outright.
“In recent months it has given the green light to new oil and gas fields, and a new coal mine.
“Yet the climate danger signal is flashing red. The government must make it clear that it will listen to its own advisers and ensure there is no new airport expansion at Gatwick or elsewhere.”
Councillor Jonathan Essex, Green Group leader on Surrey County Council and Reigate and Banstead Borough council, said:
“It is time for our Government to declare a moratorium on airport expansion and start taking its climate responsibilities seriously.
“Gatwick Airport's expansion is not only unacceptable on climate grounds but it will also make noise, air pollution and traffic worse locally.
“Instead of falling for Gatwick's inflated promises the Government should commit to creating the new jobs needed to deliver a zero carbon future across the surrounding area - a Green New Deal for Gatwick.” [4]
ENDS
NOTES
1
2
https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/2023-progress-report-to-parliament/
3
This is calculated by applying the increase in carbon emissions set out by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) for 2016 up to 2028 for the proposed second runway using Gatwick Airport Ltd (GAL) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) figures.
Estimate of 4.5 million tonnes CO2 from Gatwick in 2016 (DfT (2017) UK Aviation Forecasts. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878705/uk-aviation-forecasts-2017.pdf (p146).
Increase for 2017 based on CAA data to 283,000 Air Transport Movements from Gatwick (https://www.caa.co.uk/uploadedFiles/CAA/Content/Standard_Content/Data_and_analysis/Datasets/Airport_stats/Airport_data_2017_annual/Table_03_1_Aircraft_Movements.pdf).
Applying uplift from 2017 to 2028 of 32% calculated by GAL during the Landing and Take-off Cycle (LTO) cycle of using the Northern emergency runway as a second runway https://www.gatwickairport.com/globalassets/business--community/growing-gatwick/master-plan-2019/gatwick-master-plan-2019.pdf (Figure 5.8).
4
A Green New Deal for Gatwick Airport: https://www.greennewdealuk.org/updates/a-green-new-deal-for-gatwick/