Show description

Instead, they argued that the carbon budgets up to 2027 ‘have already been set to leave headroom for international aviation and shipping emissions, putting us on a trajectory which could be consistent with a 2050 target that includes a share of international aviation and shipping emissions’ (DECC, 2012). Despite this minor setback, FoE has framed the Big Ask campaign as a major victory. Campaigns against carbon-intensive infrastructure: the case of Heathrow’s third runway Prior to the Big Ask campaign, the increasing importance of climate change in the public and political eye did little to rein in the politics of growth.

Another concern of the climate change movement was to ensure that sufficient funding was being given to projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions either through energy efficiency or renewable energy sources. One idea drafted by an environmental think tank caught the eye of a Friends of the Earth campaigner who formed a coalition to pressure the government to establish a green investment bank that would use government funding to leverage private capital for green investments. The following chapters examine Friends of the Earth’s campaign for comprehensive emissions targets, the campaign to stop Heathrow expansion, and a coalition’s attempt to deliver a green investment bank.

Mixed-mode operation was seen as a way to increase air traffic prior to the approval of a third runway. Although the decision did not directly challenge the third runway, at least one solicitor viewed it as part of a ‘huge fight’ against the runway (Richard Buxton as quoted in HACAN ClearSkies, 2005a). Despite hopes that the court challenge would ‘mean the need to look again at the whole question of runway provision in the South East’ (HACAN ClearSkies, 2005a), the pro-expansion Labour government was not put off by the result.