Green believers may have just acheived the same status as their religious counterparts when it comes to discrimination at work. An employment tribunal has decided that an employee had views amounting to a "philosophical belief in climate change", allowing him the same legal protection from discrimination as religious beliefs. The ruling comes just two years after the discrimination law was changed so that beliefs no longer had to be "similar" to religious faith.

Senior executive (former head of sustainability to be precise) Tim Nicholson claimed he was unfairly dismissed by a property investment company, Newcastle-based Grainger plc, because his views on the environment conflicted with other managers’ "contempt for the need to cut carbon emissions" reports the Guardian .

On the executive’s belief in non-disprovable assertions (albeit ones that are at least in the realms of scientific understanding), Judge David Sneath said at the employment tribunal: "[Nicholson] has certain views about climate change and acts upon those views in the way in which he leads his life. In my judgment his belief goes beyond a mere opinion."

Giving an insight into his green credentials Mr Nicholson said, "[My belief] affects how I live my life including my choice of home, how I travel, what I buy, what I eat and drink, what I do with my waste, and my hopes and fears," he said. "For example, I no longer travel by plane, I have eco-renovated my home, I compost my food waste and encourage others to reduce their carbon emissions." So more than just an annual visit to church at Christmas.

Now that the legal test for a belief is whether it is cogent, serious and "worthy of respect in a democratic society"; on a logical basis, could the green believers have a better case than the religious ones? The decision is being challenged by the company so we shall see.

Company fights climate change ruling by employment tribunal [The Guardian]