Khan demands Burnham block Heathrow expansion over net zero
London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has demanded Andy Burnham to block the Heathrow airport runway expansion on the grounds of net zero.
Khan, who has long opposed the construction of a second Heathrow runway, linked the expansion to the effects on climate change including “extreme heatwaves, drought and wildfires”.
“The truth is the whole case for Heathrow expansion relies on outdated evidence that fails to take into account the urgent challenges we face today,” the mayor said.
His deputy mayor for the environment, Mete Coban, also told Morning Wire that the local leadership was thinking about “getting good growth” for London.
“Beyond the kind of climate change argument as well, like there is just literally no financial compelling case for why the expansion of Heathrow would be a good thing for our economy,” Coban said.
The previous government under Sir Keir Starmer championed Heathrow’s expansion as a key infrastructure project that could boost near-stagnant productivity levels.
Heathrow is the world’s most expensive airport for passenger and airline fees while it has slipped down in rankings of the world’s busiest airports.
Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves hailed the third runway at the UK’s biggest airport as a sign the government was “backing the builders”.
Heathrow expansion trade-offs
In June, a government analysis slashed the growth impact of the runway to just a 0.05 per cent addition, far lower than a previous estimate of 0.5 per cent.
A government report said the third runway may set the UK back by as much as £62.5bn in net “social costs”, which also calculates environmental impacts from carbon emissions. Yet the same report said passenger benefits could be boosted by up to £42.4bn from lower airfares and further trade due to greater competition. Critics of economic modelling say that the full benefits are not captured as exports and dealmaking could be boosted as a result of Heathrow’s expansion.
The government has come under heavy criticism over net zero policies as industrial energy prices are among the highest in the developed world, being about four times the level electricity costs are in the US.
Delays in infrastructure projects have also been blamed for the UK’s productivity woes by top economists from across the political spectrum.
Heathrow has submitted a number of promises to limit air pollution, noise pollution and carbon emissions in order to comply with a range of net zero obligations. It can buy carbon credits from businesses in other sectors to offset its emissions though officials in the mayor’s office have argued that this workaround can reduce incentives for technological improvements and preclude substantial growth in other UK airports.
Andy Burnham’s government will have to consider the policy draft on the expansion in the coming months as results from a consultation come in.
On Wednesday, Heathrow argued the project could create 108,000 jobs while construction firms including Mace and Costain wrote to ministers to say the new runway could help tackle the crisis facing young people out of employment, education and training, otherwise referred to as neets.
A Department for Transport spokesperson, said: “We are grateful to everyone who took the time to engage with the consultation and have received responses from a wide range of stakeholders.
“We will now carefully consider all responses before setting out next steps later this year.
”We have always been clear that expansion will only go ahead if it is delivered in line with our legally binding climate change obligations, and meets strict environmental rules on air quality and noise pollution.”