Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Secretary of State has made of the potential effects of a third runway at Heathrow Airport on the UK’s ability to meet pollution targets set at COP21.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Any decision regarding future airport capacity will take into account the Government’s obligations under the 2008 Climate Change Act.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has responsibility for addressing emissions from international aviation, rather than the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which held COP21. We are working hard through ICAO to try to secure agreement on a global market-based measure to address international aviation emissions.

For domestic aviation, which is covered by UNFCCC, emissions are already accounted for under the UK’s Carbon Budgets with the aim of ensuring overall UK emissions are less than 80% of 1990 levels by 2050.