Environmentalism in the Workplace: How One Activist Established the Right to his Beliefs

by Christine McLaughlin

When my son was born three years ago he was quite ill and, I was told, he had to be given formula milk as a matter of urgency. I was asked to choose from three types and, since I didn't have a clue about formula milk, I chose Aptamil, the brand favoured by SCBU. I later found out that Aptamil contains fish oil and, therefore, isn't suitable for vegetarians.

Two years later I discovered that the vitamin K injection that all babies are offered at birth contains bovine gall-bladder and therefore isn't suitable for vegetarians : I hadn't been informed about this, so my choice to feed my child an exclusively vegetarian diet was compromised twice within half an hour of his birth.

If my restricted diet had been due to a religious belief, I would have been given the chance to make an informed choice. So it was good to hear that a judge has ruled that philosophical beliefs can enjoy the same protection under the law as religious beliefs.

Tim Nicholson, a climate change campaigner, is taking his former employer to an industrial tribunal because, he says, it was his belief in environmentalism that motivated Grainger to make him redundant. Mr Justice Michael Burton ruled that a belief in environmentalism and the moral imperatives that follow from this does count as discrimination and is contrary to the 2003 Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations.

Yesterday's ruling doesn't mean that Mr Nicholson was unfairly sacked; that will be decided by an industrial tribunal. It does mean, however, that individuals' beliefs on climate change are protected and respected by the law, in the same way that religions are. The ruling relates exclusively to employment law, but the principle could be applied with regard to access to services such as the NHS.

It makes sense: climate change activists have thought about their beliefs and their convictions are formed independently of any historically established body, such as a church. So today's ruling should bring about a new ethos of respect for the beliefs of people like Tim Nicholson, as well as people such as veg*ns, feminists, and - who knows? - maybe even nihilists.