Ken Livingstone has said he opposes further expansion of Heathrow Airport on the grounds that it “runs contrary to all the growing evidence we now have on the impact of aviation on climate change.”
The Mayor was made his comments in n response to the Government’s consultation ‘Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport’ which sets out a range of proposals for the future development of the airport including a third runway and a sixth terminal.
The Government is now inviting comment from the public and other interested parties.
Mayor Livingstone said “only last week the latest United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change report warned of the very real threat of abrupt and irreversible climate change if we continue to allow carbon emissions to grow. Half of the population never fly at all from one year to the next, and of course it is vital to maintain business and long haul air travel, but a small proportion of people are taking ever more short haul leisure flights.”
“The Government will need to demonstrate why demand for such trips couldn’t be better met by investing in rail infrastructure, and if this happened why additional runway capacity would still be needed.”
