Opposition to the expansion of Paris CDG. The NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) is leading the campaign against the major works by the ADP group, aimed at increasing the platform's capacity to accommodate an additional 14 million passengers by 2035. And, more broadly, reaching 105 million by 2050, compared with 76 million passengers in 2019. That represents a potential growth of 38%.
According to T&E's calculations, Paris CDG's emissions would then rise to over 6 megatonnes per year by that period. This is far from the 3 million tonnes of CO2 projected by the latest national low-carbon strategy for international journeys in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Costing 8 billion euros, the works aim to increase the capacity of the Île-de-France hub, not by building a fourth terminal as was once envisaged, but by connecting remote aircraft stands while creating new ones close to the existing terminals. All this to accommodate more medium-haul and, above all, long-haul aircraft, which are higher emitters.
Will the uprising by T&E, led alongside other NGOs such as Réseau Action Climat and Stay Grounded, throw a spanner in the works of the validation timeline for the economic regulation contract (CRE) currently being negotiated between Groupe ADP, airlines and public authorities? While the State gave its approval to the project this summer, Groupe ADP – in which the State is also the main shareholder – is set to begin formal consultation with the airlines, before receiving a favourable opinion for a possible final signing in December.
Meanwhile, with major elections approaching, environmental groups and local politicians opposed to this extension project intend to mobilise public opinion to put pressure on the government.« If the government wants to be consistent on its climate policy, it must refuse to sign the new economic regulation contract and force Aéroports de Paris to abandon its expansion project », explains Jérôme du Boucher, aviation lead for T&E France.
Extension of the fight on a European scale
According to the newspaper Les Echos, « ADP is defending a development project that puts «an end to gigantism» and supports «moderate growth in air traffic, lower than before Covid» »This extension project, which supports Air France's growth ambitions, is not the only one being pointed out by the environmental think tank. Another study by Transport & Environment warns of the incompatibility between the expansion projects of twenty major European airports and national climate targets. According to the analysis, these extensions would exceed the carbon budget compatible with a 1.7°C trajectory by two to three times, even taking into account the expected gains from SAFs and new-generation aircraft that consume less fuel.« Increasing traffic volume by adding runways and expanding terminals cancels out any benefit derived from cleaner fuels or more efficient engines. No plausible technological improvement will be able to close this gap in time », said Denise Auclair, T&E's Travel Smart campaign manager.
London Heathrow, Madrid, Lisbon, Porto, Dublin, Frankfurt, Brussels: all these hubs frequented by business travellers have recently planned or already launched vast projects. As part of this, Lisbon and Porto would exceed their carbon budgets by 2.8 times, and Dublin by 2.6 times. Meanwhile, the additional emissions linked to the addition of a third runway at London Heathrow would be equivalent, between 2035 and 2050, to those of Croatia for an entire year, while the simultaneous extension of 12 airports in Spain would add the equivalent of Portugal's annual emissions. In response to this, as well as calling for a freeze on extensions exceeding carbon budgets and the redirection of public funding towards cleaner alternatives, T&E highlights a growing legal risk for governments that approve these extensions.
