• UK climate charity Possible and the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA)  have each filed judicial reviews against the UK government’s Jet Zero Strategy for aviation.
• The claimants argue that the Jet Zero Strategy relies on speculative, risky  technologies and that ministers failed to properly consider the need for demand management, contradicting expert advice and risking failure to deliver on the UK’s net zero targets.
• Judicial reviews filed by Possible and the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport against the Jet Zero Strategy are being heard at a single High Court hearing beginning today.

April 1st, 2025 – Climate charity Possible and the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport are taking the UK government to court over its controversial Jet Zero Strategy (JZS), arguing that the policy encourages aviation expansion at the expense of legally binding climate commitments.

Possible and GALBA’s legal teams at law firm Leigh Day have filed judicial reviews against the Department for Transport (DfT), challenging the JZS for failing to present a viable plan to reduce aviation emissions in line with the UK’s net zero targets. The hearing begins today (April 1) at the Royal Courts of Justice, with both challenges being heard alongside each other, and is expected to last for four days.

Both legal cases argue that the JZS relies on speculative technological solutions while ignoring the need for demand management measures, despite clear recommendations from the government’s own statutory advisors, the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

The policy sets a trajectory for the aviation sector that could lead to an over 50% increase in passengers by 2050, which the groups argue puts the UK’s legally binding climate targets at risk.

The cases argue that the Jet Zero Strategy did not provide the evidential base for the Secretary of State to be able to conclude that it would achieve net zero aviation, a conclusion which was required, given the Strategy was identified as a policy under section 13 of the Climate Change Act 2008, the purpose of which is to have policies in place to meet carbon budgets. The case further argues that the government failed to consult properly on the need for demand management and neglected the risks of non-CO2 aviation emissions.

Possible warns that, unless the JZS is withdrawn or substantially changed, it will lock the UK into unsustainable aviation growth, jeopardising the UK’s legally binding climate commitments.

To mark the first day of the High Court hearing, Possible and GALBA, along with fellow aviation campaigners including AEF, Flight Free UK and No Airport Expansion, are to hold a demonstration and photo call outside the Royal Courts of Justice. Photos of the event are available on request.

Hannah Lawrence, Stay Grounded spokesperson, said: “The case brought by Possible and GALBA is crucial for challenging a plan that wrecks havoc with our future and allows a hugely polluting industry to continue their dangerous expansion. There is no sustainable future without a massive reduction of aviation and yet the government continues to rely on unproven technologies which are a false solution. Instead we need measures to fairly reduce aviation by putting an end to airport expansions and introducing a frequent flying levy.”

Alethea Warrington, Head of Aviation, Heat, and Energy at Possible, said: “The Jet Zero Strategy provides a highly dangerous green light for airport expansion and a recipe for rising emissions, putting the UK’s climate commitments in serious jeopardy. By attempting to rely on expensive and unproven technologies while ignoring clear expert advice that demand for flights must be curbed, the government is taking a reckless gamble with our future. To tackle the climate crisis, we need sensible policies to reduce aviation emissions by targeting the small group of frequent flyers who take most of the flights. This would also support the UK’s economy as well as protecting our climate, by increasing tax take from aviation and reducing the UK’s enormous tourism spend deficit.”

Rowan Smith, environmental lawyer at Leigh Day, working alongside Ricardo Gama and Julia Eriksen, said: “Our client says that this legal case has revealed matters that are truly damning for the Government. Internal documents appear to show that the Secretary of State at the time completely rejected, even before consulting members of the public, any role for demand management in plans to meet net zero in the aviation sector. Our client will argue in the High Court that such a closed mind rendered both the decision-making process and consultation unlawful.”

Nick Hodgkinson, Chair of GALBA, said:  “The UK government’s expert advisers on the Climate Change Committee have described Jet Zero as a ‘high risk’ approach to decarbonising aviation. We shouldn’t be gambling with climate breakdown! It’s deeply unfair on our children and their children to allow aviation’s climate problem to get worse before we have any proven solutions. Right now, the only credible way to cut the greenhouse gases caused by flying is to fly less, not more.”

PRESS CONTACTS:

• Hannah Lawrence, press@stay-grounded
• For further information please contact [email protected] or 07806431577.
• Alethea Warrington, Head of Aviation, Heat, and Energy at climate charity Possible, is available for further comment. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• Images of the photo call are available on request.
• Stay Grounded is an international network of over 200 member initiatives campaigning for a just-reduction of aviation.
• Possible is a UK-based charity on a mission to speed up climate action. Possible’s vision is a zero-carbon country created by, and for, everyone in the UK.
• The legal case is supported by Possible and GALBA’s lawyers at Leigh Day, with both being heard together in a single, multi-day hearing.
• The Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA) is a campaign group dedicated to preventing the expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport, advocating for climate action and sustainable alternatives to aviation growth.