15 January 2009 - The South East’s Green MEP and Leader of the Green Party Dr Caroline Lucas has slammed the Government’s approval for a third runway at Heathrow as a breach of EU law – and labelled ministers’ economic justifications as false and deceptive.

- Lucas: UK and EU must be held to account for failing to curb damaging climate emissions from aviation

Dr Lucas said: "Business Secretary Peter Mandelson’s claim that there’s a "classic dilemma" between fulfilling the UK’s climate change ambitions without losing economic competitiveness only demonstrates how little he understands about either.

"Our competitiveness will come from creating a sustainable economy in the future, not relying dirty, dinosaur-like industries which are subsidised to the tune of £10bn in the UK alone.

"Labour has taken the cynical step of playing this decision on Heathrow as a way of creating jobs at a time of rising unemployment, yet many commentators now agree that only a Green New Deal can create hundreds of thousands of high quality jobs that are truly sustainable into the future, through a massive investment in efficiency and renewables.

"The Government’s claim that including aviation in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme will help make it ‘sustainable’ belongs in cloud cuckoo land. The Commission’s own figures show that the result of the ETS will be that by 2020, instead of growing by 142%, the European aviation industry would still grow by around 135%!

"Essentially, the weak emissions trading rules will allow aviation to buy the right to emit from other sectors - but aviation itself will continue to grow massively."

She continued: "Furthermore, arguments that Heathrow must expand in order to keep up with other EU airports are misguided at best – or else deliberately dishonest. Research from HACAN shows that in 2007, a combined total of 139 million passengers used London’s airports - Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City. That compares with 88 million who used all Paris airports, London’s closest European rival. Heathrow remains the busiest airport in Europe, and the busiest international airport in the world. (1)

Dr Lucas concluded: "Expansion at Heathrow will clearly breach EU air quality standards, and could cost Britain millions of Euros in fines if the Commission won’t agree to a derogation. And as Green MEP, I will be doing all I can in the European Parliament to ensure the UK doesn’t get a derogation from the new air standards which come into force in 2010.

"Ultimately, the notion that a third runway at Heathrow is a good way out of the recession is hugely deceptive, given that building work won’t even start for years to come. And to approve expansion at a time when UK airports are reporting a significant drop in passenger numbers (2) seems incredibly foolish."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

(1) www.hacan.org.uk

(2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/14/baa-heathrow