Belief in global warming protected from discrimination in UK labour law

Image From National Post via WattUpWithThat?

In the public policy debates over climate change, critics of strong action to mitigate global warming have often described proponents as “religious zealots”, and vice-versa. Moreover, since the concern over global warming has entered the mainstream consciousness, religious groups have been increasingly drawn to the discussion. Now, in the UK, a recent decision by an employment tribunal has actually equivocated belief in global warming with religious belief, for the purposes of workplace discrimination.

The case centers around Tim Nicholson, whose position as Head of Sustainability at Grainger, plc was terminated over what he claims was “contempt” for his beliefs about anthropogenic global warming. Nicholson alleged that his termination was due to his beliefs – which he argued should be protected from discrimination by the UK’s Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations of 2003.

In its decision this week, the employment tribunal ruled Nicholson would be allowed to bring his discrimination claim because Nicholson’s beliefs in global warming passed the tests formulated for “philosophical belief” for the purposes of the regulations:

From the tribunal’s ruling:

• The belief must be genuinely held.
• It must be a belief and not an opinion or view based on the present state of information available.
• It must be a belief as to a weighty and substantial aspect of human life.
• It must attain a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance.
• It must be worthy of respect in a democratic society, not incompatible with human dignity and not conflict with the fundamental rights of others.

Grainger Plc & Ors v. Nicholson [2009] UKEAT 0219_09_0311 (3 November 2009)

In no way could this ever be taken out of context by anybody on either side of the larger debate…

Post tags: belief, climate change, global warming, religion, Tim Nicholson, UK employment law

Canada Best Equipped to Deal with Climate Change

By: Law is Cool · July 5, 2008 · Filed Under Environmental Law, Ethics, International Law, Politics · Add Comment

A report released today by British-based Maplecroft states that Canada is the country positioned the best to deal with global warming and its related effects.

Climate Change

6 factors were examined:

economy
natural resources and ecosystems
poverty, development and health
agriculture
population, settlement and infrastructure
institutions, governance and social capital

African nations dominated those that will most strongly be effected by changes in the future. Other developed nations were also better situated, largely due to their non-equatorial positions.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change previously looked at the impact of global warming. What this report did is look at how countries are prepared to meet these changes.

Dr. Andy Thow, one of the report contributors, said,

Canada… is extremely well equipped to adapt to changes in climate. It scores well across all aspects of the index. This is because of the low pressure on natural resources resulting from a low population density and large land area, combined with high agricultural capacity, a healthy economy, few development and health challenges and excellent public institutions.

However, severe impacts to wildlife will still be seen in the Canadian Arctic.

The entire report can be viewed here:

The ethical issue many have wondered is how fair is it that the countries generating the most pollution and contributing the the greenhouse effect are least affected. The majority of the world’s population will experience the fallout of a small wealthy minority. Should there be legal obligations to assist those affected by our lifestyles?

Canada though, unlike many other developing nations, is doing more to address the issue of climate change.

Least Vulnerable: Canada, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, France, Uruguay, Switzerland, USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Iceland, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Estonia, Australia.

Most Vulnerable: Comoros, Somalia, Burundi, Yemen, Niger, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Chad, Rwanda, Haiti, Pakistan, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Nepal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania.

Post tags: climate change, global warming, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, maplecroft