Is airport expansion compatible with net zero and environment targets? EAC launches new inquiry

Inquiry launch: Airport expansion and climate and nature targets

As the Government commits to the expansion of airport capacity in the UK, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has launched a new inquiry to examine whether doing so can be achieved in line with climate and environment goals.

In announcing support for a third runway at Heathrow Airport in January, the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that any scheme must be delivered in line with climate and environmental obligations. The Chief Executive at Heathrow Airport later confirmed that its proposal would need to meet rules on noise, air quality and carbon as set out in the Airports National Policy Statement.

The EAC has previously argued that emissions from the aviation sector are considered one of the hardest to abate. In its 2023 report ‘Net zero and the UK aviation sector', the Committee stated that emissions from civil aviation represented 8% of the UK's emissions in 2019, and 7% in 2022. Research published in 2024 demonstrated that London was the city most affected by air pollution from aviation in Europe. Therefore, is expanding the UK's airport capacity likely to make the achievement of net zero objectives and air quality targets a more distant aspiration?

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has previously advised against expansion of airport capacity unless the sector can show that its emissions reductions are on track to exceed what is necessary to reach net zero.. EAC will be exploring in this new inquiry what measures the sector can adopt to support this trajectory, interventions required in light of current projections for aviation demand, and whether the Government should establish additional environmental and climate conditions through the use of planning policy statements. 

Environmental Audit Committee Chair, Toby Perkins MP, said:

“The aviation sector is a major contributor to the UK's carbon emissions, and on the face of it, any expansion in the sector will make net zero even more elusive. However, the Government has been clear that any decisions on airport expansion must meet strict environmental and climate commitments.

“It is possible – but very difficult – for the airport expansion programme to be consistent with environmental goals. We look forward to exploring how the Government believes this can be achieved.

“This new inquiry will run as the Government is preparing a fresh delivery plan for the Sixth Carbon Budget and is determining the overall level of the Seventh Carbon Budget. It comes as Ministers are expecting to receive proposals for a third runway at Heathrow and are contemplating decisions on airport expansion projects at London Luton and Gatwick and on the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield. This will all contribute to our evidence base before we report in the Autumn.” 

Environmental Audit Committee member, Blake Stephenson MP, said:

“It is vitally important that economic growth is sustainable and that the Government's plans for infrastructure do not sit at odds with environmental commitments. This inquiry will offer Parliamentarians an opportunity to ensure that the public can be confident that by throwing their weight behind airport expansion, they are not damaging the environment for their children and grandchildren.”

Terms of reference

The Committee invites written submissions addressing any or all of the issues raised in the following terms of reference by 5.00 pm on Thursday 24^th April 2025:

Expanding airport capacity within the Government's climate and environmental obligations

1. Which statutory targets and which non-statutory obligations (both national and international) relating to climate and the environment apply to Government policy on (a) the development of UK airport capacity in general and (b) the development of Heathrow and other airports in the South East of England in particular;
2. What effect the enactment of proposed legislation to include international aviation emissions within the Sixth Carbon Budget and subsequent budgets will have on the UK's ability to meet its climate commitments in respect of aviation;
3. What emissions reductions from domestic and international aviation are currently likely to be required to meet the Sixth Carbon Budget; and what effect the Government's policy on airport expansion is likely to have on the ability to deliver these reductions. 

Scope for development within current climate and environmental obligations

1. What projections have been made for the demand for passenger and freight capacity at UK airports by 2050; and to what extent current proposals for expansion of airport capacity in England meet these projections;
2. What projections have been made for the likely climate and environment impacts of domestic and international aviation from UK airports by 2050 in relation to the latest Government estimates of aviation and airport growth;
3. What projections have been made concerning the contribution of (a) technological innovations in aviation (b) aviation emissions trading schemes and (c) changes in airport operations to reducing overall emissions from UK domestic and international aviation; and to what extent aviation emissions are expected to be offset by carbon removals elsewhere to ensure that the UK meets net zero by 2050. 

Review of the Airports National Policy Statement

1. To what extent the provisions of the current Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) approved by Parliament in June 2018 and designated under the Planning Act 2008 are supported by current evidence and projections on (a) aviation growth and (b) the climate and environmental effects of aviation and airport development;
2. Whether the scope of the current ANPS remains appropriate given current and expected proposals for development of runway capacity and infrastructure at airports in the South East of England;
3. What conditions the Government ought to include in a revised ANPS to ensure that airport expansion can be delivered within (a) the UK's international climate commitments and statutory national obligations and (b) the UK Government's environmental targets for England;
4. What appraisals of sustainability the Government ought to conduct in preparing a revised ANPS.

Ensuring continued compliance with climate and environment obligations

1. What arrangements ought to be made to keep airports and aviation policy under review to ensure that climate and environment obligations continue to be met;
2. What policy safeguards Ministers ought to offer to ensure that the climate and environmental impacts from domestic and international aviation continue to be mitigated in a way consistent with these obligations.