Climate Change: A New Religion?

In a recent Employment Tribunal hearing, Mr Nicholson claimed that his former employer, Grainger Plc, had not made him redundant as they asserted, but had actually dismissed him because of his belief in climate change.

What did the Tribunal decide?

The Tribunal Judge reached the conclusion that Mr Nicholson's belief in climate change was one that was protected by the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003. The Regulations were introduced in December 2003 to protect employees against discrimination on the grounds of their religious or similar philosophical beliefs. It was never quite clear what exactly would be classified as a "similar philosophical belief", but the Government's guidance was that such a belief would need to occupy a place in the person's life similar to that filled by the god or gods of a religion, and that a certain level of seriousness was required. It was envisaged that beliefs such as pantheism, atheism and humanism would