On 7 July 2023, Mrs Justice Thornton DBE handed down judgment in R (Boswell) v Secretary of State for Transport [2023] EWHC 1710 (Admin).
The case concerned three decisions of the Secretary of State for Transport to grant consent for three road schemes in Norfolk. In making his decision, the Secretary of State assessed the carbon emissions expected to be generated by each scheme and concluded that, when compared with the UK’s carbon budgets which span the period from 2023 to 2037, the increase in emissions from each of the three schemes (separately) is not significant (0.001%-0.004% of any carbon budget).