Reform UK’s Richard Tice calls man-made climate change “absolute garbage” in embarrassing interview

Olivia Barber

17 February, 2025 
Left Foot Forward 

The Reform UK  MP said the idea of “stopping the power of the sun and volcanoes” is “nonsense”

Reform UK MP and party deputy leader Richard Tice has rejected established climate science and said it’s “absolute garbage” to say human activities are causing climate change during a Sky News interview.

Tice pointed to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) from 2023, stating that it says achieving net-zero tomorrow would have no impact on sea level rise for the next 200 to 1,000 years.

He claimed that this shows they “haven’t got a clue” and that it “won’t make any difference”.

Tice said that climate change is “real” and has occurred for millions of years, but he claimed there is “no evidence” that human-made CO2 has played a role in driving it.

He also said that suggesting that “a bit less CO2 is going to stop the power of the sun and stop the power of volcanoes is arrant nonsense”.

The deputy leader of Reform argued that vested interests are pushing the “net-zero agenda” because of the significant money involved, despite big oil companies paying out billions to lobby against climate action.

When asked by Sky’s Ali Fortescue whether we should listen to experts, Tice responded: “There are experts, vested interests, and then people who tell the truth.”

He said that vested interests are “making fortunes” out of renewable energy and that “decent ordinary people” are being ripped off.

Tice spread misinformation, claiming that scrapping net-zero would lower people’s energy bills, claiming that people currently pay an extra four or five hundred pounds a year before tax due to net-zero policies.

He also suggested that the growing support for Reform UK in the polls might reflect that “The British people are starting to realise, we’re talking the truth. They know they’re being lied to.”

Tice said that the “net-zero” has “got to stop” and “only Reform UK is going to stop it”.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward