FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
London, UK
April 30, 2026
Contact
Rosemary Harris, rosemary@oilchangeuk.org
A new report, ‘Job Destruction from Dismantling the UK’s Climate Action Policy Framework’, by Transition Economics, reveals that Reform UK’s plan for a reversal of UK climate policies would result in enormous job losses, undermine future economic opportunities, and disproportionately impact already vulnerable regions.
The research, commissioned by Oil Change UK and Friends of the Earth Scotland, found that by scrapping support for renewable energy and net zero industries, nearly 500,000 UK jobs would be destroyed within three years – comparable to almost every teacher in the UK losing their jobs.
Since 2022, support for climate action and net zero policy in the UK have shifted from a shared national goal to a polarised battlefield of the political elite. Focusing on Reform UK, the clearest and most developed force pushing to dismantle climate policy in British politics, the report warns that the party’s rollback would lead to the following:
- The destruction of nearly 500,000 existing UK jobs within three years
- Jobs lost across industries including renewable energy generation, insulating homes, public transport, electric vehicle manufacturing, and their supply chains
- By 2040, the UK could forgo up to 1.4 million jobs that the current policies would create or sustain
- Scotland would bear a disproportionate share of the impact with 13% of the short-term job destruction, despite comprising only 8% of the population
- Industrial heritage regions with few alternatives, such as North East England, East Anglia, the West Midlands, and Inverness and the North East Highlands, would be hit the hardest by job losses
Despite public support for net zero holding strong, the debate has been re-opened by those using the climate crisis to serve their own political agendas. The report describes how the sudden and extreme reversal of policy by Reform would undermine decades of public and private investment in technology, products and skills for the low carbon economy. It would be highly disruptive, “leaving ports with no trade, suppliers with no customers, and skilled workers with no employers.” The analysis shows that what is at stake is not just the climate – it is jobs, livelihoods, entire communities and the UK’s economy.
Rosemary Harris, North Sea Senior Campaigner at Oil Change UK, said:
“It is clear Reform UK’s ideological drive to derail climate action will come at the cost of the very workers they claim to represent.
“Politicians seeking to curry favour through economically incoherent plans to reverse course on a green energy future should see this as a warning. Turning back now will not only undermine global progress towards preventing catastrophic flooding, heat waves, and crop failure, but it will also destroy the livelihoods of workers and communities across the UK.
“Selling a fantasy of abandoning climate action in favour of more North Sea oil and gas as the solution to fossil fuel driven energy price shocks and job insecurity is dangerous and disingenuous. It doesn’t help workers and communities, and serves only the narrow self-interests of those peddling snake oil to struggling communities. It’s time to get serious.”
Rosie Hampton, Oil and Gas Campaigns Manager at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said:
“Reform’s plans would destroy swathes of Scottish industry in a flash, putting tens of thousands of workers out of their jobs, reinforcing how destructive their policies are to workers and communities across Scotland.
“Reform’s opposition to climate solutions is economically catastrophic as well as being morally bankrupt. You can clearly see the influence of the party’s huge fossil fuel company’s donors cynically using these politicians to try and stop the rise of renewable energy.
“By undermining decades of public and private investment in green technology, this extreme reversal would leave ports with no trade, suppliers with no customers, and skilled workers with no employers or prospects.
“This research shows how important the green economy already is to communities across Scotland and its clear decisive climate action will create even more jobs and bring down bills for good.
“The people we should be listening to instead of political chancers are the workers who have been advocating for a credible industrial strategy and public ownership of our energy system for years now. Anything else would be a betrayal of those workers and an absolute failure of climate and industrial leadership.”
Pete Letton manages operations for teams of wind turbine maintenance workers across Scotland, and is based in Dundee. He commented:
“We need wind turbines, because everybody needs electricity. But at the moment we literally pay these companies to switch them off because our own grid can’t handle it and at the same time we are buying in gas to make up for it
“I went into wind because I wanted to support my family. It’s a good career path, but it’s not just that – the ethics of it make me feel good.
“You’re talking electricians, mechanical engineers, construction experts and now people are saying, and what I am witnessing, is its only going to grow.
“The Global Wind Organisation have forecasted that the industry needs to try and recruit over 500,000 wind technicians globally by 2028. I don’t know why it’s such a controversial industry.”
The full report and related resources can be found below: