Can an expanded Heathrow meet its environmental targets?

This Environment Committee report warns that key safeguards set by the Government to limit the environmental impact of a potential third runway at Heathrow may not be fit for purpose.

Expanding the UK’s busiest airport would mean an initial increase in capacity of 125,000 annual flights and 15 million extra passengers in 2020 when the runway first opens, and this is forecast to increase even further.

The Government has set out conditions on noise, air quality and climate change to manage the negative environmental impact of the potential development. But a new report by the London Assembly’s Environment Committee reveals unmistakeable limitations in some of these conditions and how they would be met.

The report makes a number of recommendations relating to noise, air quality, emissions and governance to strengthen the environmental conditions.

As part of its future work programme, the Committee will review the latest data on air quality and noise at Heathrow airport and its surrounding areas