Heathrow mocked over ‘zero carbon’ pledge

Heathrow mocked over ‘zero carbon’ pledge as environmentalists accuse the airport of ‘brazen greenwashing’

  • Britain’s busiest airport says its buildings should be zero carbon within 15 years 
  • The announcement has been dismissed as propaganda by green campaigners  
  • Airport’s third runway will mean an extra 700 planes in the sky every day
  • Heathrow currently operates a total of 1,300 flights every 24 hours 

Heathrow was accused of ‘brazen greenwashing’ last night after bosses announced plans to emit zero carbon emissions by the mid-2030s.

Britain’s biggest airport says it has already reduced emissions from buildings and infrastructure by 93 per cent compared with 1990, with the rest ‘offset’ through tree-planting.

Now its bosses want Heathrow’s buildings to produce zero emissions within 15 years, meaning there will be no need to to offset. But environmentalists described the move as ‘greenwash’ propaganda and pointed out that Heathrow’s proposed third runway would see an extra 700 planes in the sky every day – on top of the current 1,300 daily flights.

Heathrow was accused of ‘brazen greenwashing’ last night after bosses announced plans to emit zero carbon emissions by the mid-2030s

Greenpeace chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: ‘It’s hard to believe this announcement comes from the same airport wanting to build a major new runway with carbon emissions the size of a small country. In terms of brazen greenwash, this is up there with oil companies unveiling solar-powered drill rigs.

‘It’s a green-tinted smokescreen to cover up the fact that, like the rest of the aviation industry, Heathrow wants to carry on as usual despite the devastating impacts it’s having on the planet.’

Jenny Bates, of Friends of the Earth, added: ‘The elephant in the room is climate-wrecking flights, so it’s laughable to see Heathrow making this kind of pledge on just infrastructure emissions.’ Heathrow chief John Holland-Kaye said the carbon goal was ‘a testament to the determination of our airport to help spearhead a new era of sustainable aviation’.

He added: ‘We can and will cut the environmental cost of flying whilst keeping the benefits of travel for future generations.’

Responding to the greenwashing claim, a Heathrow spokesman said: ‘We will expand our airport in line with some of the world’s strictest and legally binding environmental limits… We are confident and clear that aviation is not the enemy, carbon is.’

 

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