Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2024 to Question 900487 on Airports: Carbon Emissions, what strict environmental standards she will use to assess airport expansions.

The assessment of applications for airport expansion will take account of all relevant law, policy and other material considerations. This includes environmental assessments undertaken as part of the planning application process.

The UK’s obligations on greenhouse gas emissions are set under the 2008 Climate Change Act. The UK also has legally binding targets to reduce emissions and concentrations of harmful pollutants, including a targeted 35% reduction in population exposure to fine particulate matter in England (PM_2.5) by 2040 (compared to 2018 levels).