UK criticised for ignoring Paris climate goals in infrastructure decisions | The Guardian
Exclusive: scientists write to ministers and supreme court over recent ruling in Heathrow case
Prominent scientists and lawyers have said the UK government’s decision to ignore the Paris climate agreement when deciding on major infrastructure projects undermines its presidency of UN climate talks this year.
The experts – including the former Nasa scientist Jim Hansen, the former UK government chief scientist Sir David King and the economist Prof Jeffrey Sachs – have written to ministers and the supreme court about a recent ruling that the government need not take the UK’s obligations under the treaty into account when setting policy, made in a case concerning the proposed expansion of Heathrow airport.
Green campaigners took the government to court in 2019 over its decision to allow the expansion of Heathrow, arguing that the increase in air travel it would enable was incompatible with the UK’s obligations under the Paris agreement to try to hold global heating to well below 2ºC above pre-industrial levels.
