UK would need forest ‘twice size of London’ to offset new airport expansion
Analysis: UK would need forest ‘twice size of London’ to offset new airport expansion
by carbonbrief
UK would need forest ‘twice size of London’ to offset new airport expansion
Analysis: UK would need forest ‘twice size of London’ to offset new airport expansion
by carbonbrief
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A forest twice the size of Greater London would need to be planted in the UK to cancel out the extra emissions from the expansion of Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports, Carbon Brief analysis reveals.
New runaways at these airports surrounding London would result in cumulative emissions of around 92m tonnes of extra carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by 2050, if the number of flights increases in line with their operating company targets.
If the UK is to remain on track for [net-zero](https://www.carbonbrief.org/in-depth-qa-the-uks-net-zero-strategy/), it would need to cut emissions further in other sectors of the economy or remove an equivalent amount from the atmosphere.
For example, offsetting these emissions would require more than 300,000 hectares of trees to be planted within just a few years. This equates to all the trees planted in the UK since 2000.
The Labour government is set to back all three airport expansions, according to [media](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/01/23/i-wont-resign-over-heathrow-expansion-ed-miliband-insists) %5Breporting%5D(https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/25/labour-risks-powder-keg-clash-with-environmentalists-as-it-puts-growth-before-going-green) ahead of a speech by chancellor Rachel Reeves this week.
This is in spite of [opposition](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jan/21/heathrow-third-runway-rachel-reeves-sadiq-khan) from within the Labour party and the government’s climate advisors [recommending against](https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Progress-in-reducing-emissions-2024-Report-to-Parliament-Web.pdf) airport expansion.
Reeves has [stressed](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy08q9d1r2vo) that “sustainable aviation fuels” (SAFs) and electric planes could help to offset these emissions.
However, such technologies are still in the early stages of deployment and previous Carbon Brief [analysis](https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-benefits-of-uk-sustainable-aviation-fuel-will-be-wiped-out-by-rising-demand/) suggests the role of SAFs in achieving net-zero may be limited.
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