climate protection has priority over economic growth, says the judge. The Paris agreements on climate protection he sees as legally binding.

landing an Airbus A380 on the homes in Heathrow photo: Hannah Mckay/reuters

DUBLIN taz | For the first Time, the world has been stopped to a large infrastructure project due to environmental concerns in court. The London appeal court ruled on Thursday that the third runway at Heathrow, Europe's largest airport to operate with 80 million passengers in the year, no new construction is permitted. Last may, a court had dismissed the lawsuit against the strip.

the government of The then Prime Minister Theresa May have ignored in the approval of the construction of the Commitments of the Paris climate agreement, was now the grounds of the appeal court chaired by Lord judge Lindblom. This agreement would need to be taken into account in the planning process. However, an opinion as to the law, had not been submitted.

The managing Director of the airport company, John Holland-Kaye, had tried on Wednesday evening to influence the court's decision. "The extension of the airport is the key to Boris Johnson's Vision of a global Britain," he had claimed in a Radio Interview. The runway is in particular due to the Brexit important for the economy.

To the problem of climate change had been the advent of all the other points of the lawsuit – such as noise, increased traffic, and cost – thrown out of court, so that the thing is quite fixable, he hopes: "We are confident that we will have in the Supreme court success."

Johnson explained, on behalf of the government, however, to forego an appeal. The Prime Minister had announced from the beginning against the project and had to throw himself in front of the bulldozers to prevent the construction.

That he must make his suit, now dirty, thanks to the London Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, had submitted jointly with environmental organizations such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, as well as with residents in the lawsuit. "We have won," said Khan after the verdict. "We have thwarted the plans of the Tory government for the construction of a third runway."

Tim Crosland, of the legal Foundation, Plan B, another applicant, said: "Now it is not clear that the government reaffirm their commitment to the Paris agreement, and at the same time measures can be taken that the agreement blatantly undermined." The UK has enacted the previous year's ambitious climate protection goals in the law. By 2050, the net is to decrease contribution to global warming to Zero. The 14 billion pounds of expensive new runway, which should be completed by 2028, but would have led to 700 additional aircraft per day, with all of its emissions.

The judgment have global consequences, says Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, expert of international law at the University of Leiden, Netherlands. "For the first Time a court has confirmed," she told the Guardian, "that the Paris agreement set out climate change targets are legally binding."