A lone firefighter assessing a forest fire

Climate change lies vs facts Misleading climate claims and the real-world impact

In recent years, climate action has been attacked by right wing politicians, using carefully manufactured lies to justify these attacks - called disinformation (the presentation of partial or false information with the deliberate intention of misleading someone). 

Want to know what to say to shut down disinformation? Scroll or choose a topic to get stuck in.

Energy bills
Petrol and diesel cars
Renewable energy
Cost of reducing carbon emissions (getting to net zero)
Climate science
Handmade banner in tree outside house saying 'Refugees Welcome'
Studies show migration boosts job creation and helps reduce government debt over time.

Fact check: Are migrants to blame for everything?

Of course not. Studies show migration boosts job creation and helps reduce government debt over time.

It's worth noting before we get into the topics of climate change, that climate denial often goes hand in hand with blaming refugees and immigrants for the financial challenges many people are facing. 

When politicians try to gain popularity by criticising how public money is being spent, they ignore the reality that migration is something we’ve always relied on. 

  • Migrants support our NHS and our care services
  • Migrants help build our infrastructure
  • Migrants keep essential services running

The right wing also exaggerates the UK’s role in providing a home for refugees - the UK is only home to around 1% of people who are forcibly displaced across the world. So, worth remembering if these arguments crop up!

Handmade banner in tree outside house saying 'Refugees Welcome'
Studies show migration boosts job creation and helps reduce government debt over time.
Photo of solar array and wind turbine in countryside
Gas prices are the main driver of rising bills, not wind and solar.

Fact check: Are renewables to blame for high energy bills?

No. Gas prices are the main driver of rising bills, not wind and solar.

Reform UK’s Richard Tice has claimed there is a “direct link” between renewable energy support and higher household bills and said he'll scrap support for renewables to lower bills. But the evidence doesn’t support this.

  • UK energy bills spiked after global gas prices surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and they’ve stayed high ever since.
  • In the UK, expensive gas sets the electricity price most of the time, which leaves households exposed to volatile global markets.
  • Renewables already cut bills by reducing how often gas sets the price. In fact, UK wind power has helped keep wholesale electricity prices significantly lower than they would otherwise have been.
  • Support for renewables and low income households makes up a small and decreasing share of energy bills, while wholesale electricity price accounts for the largest portion.
  • Scrapping renewables wouldn’t meaningfully lower bills, it would increase our reliance on gas and make price shocks more likely.

If the goal is lower, more stable energy bills, the solution is more clean, home-grown energy, not less.

Read more including our fair solutions
Photo of solar array and wind turbine in countryside
Gas prices are the main driver of rising bills, not wind and solar.
Cycle for your planet - graphic
Clean air zones, low-traffic neighbourhoods and 20mph limits cut pollution, reduce road deaths and make streets safer and healthier for everyone - including drivers.

Fact check: Is there really a “war on drivers”?

No. The evidence shows the opposite.

Reform UK claims that electric vehicles, clean air zones and lower speed limits amount to a “war on drivers”, arguing that scrapping net zero would end bans on petrol and diesel cars. But this argument isn't backed by evidence.

  • Reform’s own Richard Tice drives a Tesla.
  • Numbers of fully electric cars is rising and accounted for over 20% of all new car registrations in 2025.
  • No one is being forced to switch to electric overnight: new petrol and diesel cars will still be sold until 2030, with hybrids and second-hand cars available after that.
  • EVs are also cheaper to run - EVs are about £1,000 cheaper to run per year than petrol cars.
  • Measures like clean air zones, low-traffic neighbourhoods and 20mph limits aren’t about punishing drivers — they’re designed to cut pollution, reduce road deaths and make streets safer and healthier for everyone.

Calling these changes a “war on drivers” distracts from what they actually do: save lives, improve air quality, and create better places to live, including for people who still drive.

Read more including our fair solutions
Cycle for your planet - graphic
Clean air zones, low-traffic neighbourhoods and 20mph limits cut pollution, reduce road deaths and make streets safer and healthier for everyone - including drivers.
Parents take their children to visit and admire renewable energy windmills
Wind and solar are now the cheapest forms of new electricity and faster to build than fossil fuel or nuclear power plants.

Fact check: Is renewable energy a terrible idea?

No. Wind and solar are now the cheapest forms of new electricity and faster to build than fossil fuel or nuclear power plants.

You may have heard Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, warning if Britain continues with renewables, “the lights are going to go out”. But this claim doesn’t match reality.

  • In 2024, more than half of the UK’s electricity came from renewables
  • In 2025, there were record periods when Britain was powered entirely by clean energy
  • The UK also has huge, untapped potential in offshore wind, solar, and tidal power
  • A mix of renewable energy sources makes the system more resilient, not less.

Casting doubt on renewables undermines investment and energy security, and delays the benefits people actually want, like cleaner air, warmer homes, and cheaper home-grown power.

Read more including our fair solutions
Parents take their children to visit and admire renewable energy windmills
Wind and solar are now the cheapest forms of new electricity and faster to build than fossil fuel or nuclear power plants.
3 members of Cardiff Friends of the Earth outside the job centre holding up a banner that reads "green is working" in reference to the 1 million jobs in clean industries
The UK’s green economy is growing three times faster than the rest of the economy, creating jobs and attracting billions in private investment.

Fact check: Is getting to net zero emissions too expensive for the UK?

No. It’s already paying off.

Getting to net zero emissions (often shortened to ‘net zero’) means reducing a country’s overall greenhouse gas emissions — largely from burning fossil fuels — as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions balanced by removing the same amount from the atmosphere. This removal can be done through natural processes, such as forests and soils that absorb carbon dioxide (known as carbon sinks), as well as through engineered solutions. The industries and infrastructure involved in cutting emissions and supporting low-carbon alternatives are often referred to collectively as the ‘green economy’.

The UK’s green economy is growing three times faster than the rest of the economy, creating jobs and attracting billions in private investment. Yet Reform UK has claimed that net zero policies would “bankrupt Britain” and that scrapping them would save huge sums.

  • What Reform UK misses is the cost of doing nothing.
  • Climate impacts like flooding, heatwaves and infrastructure damage are already costing the UK billions — and those costs are rising.
  • The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that climate damage will hit economic growth and push up insurance costs, leaving some households uninsurable.
  • Net zero isn’t just a cost, it’s an investment. Most of the funding needed is expected to come from the private sector, not taxpayers.
  • The transition to a low carbon economy will cost money, but it can be funded fairly by ensuring that the biggest polluters pay the most.
  • Scrapping net zero wouldn’t save money it would mean higher climate damage, lost investment, and fewer benefits like cleaner air, better transport and warmer homes.

The real question isn’t whether we can afford net zero. It’s can we afford not to act?

Read more including our fair solutions
3 members of Cardiff Friends of the Earth outside the job centre holding up a banner that reads "green is working" in reference to the 1 million jobs in clean industries
The UK’s green economy is growing three times faster than the rest of the economy, creating jobs and attracting billions in private investment.
A split image with one half showing a man wearing shorts in flooded waters, and in the other a firefighter staring down a forest on fire
Climate studies agree: climate change is happening and is caused by human activity.

Fact check: Have humans caused climate change?

Yes. 99% of peer-reviewed climate studies agree that climate change is happening and is caused by human activity.

Despite this, Reform UK figures have claimed that climate change is exaggerated or "a hoax". But the science is clear:

  • The last decade was the hottest on record.
  • Each of the last four decades has been warmer than the one before it.
  • Global temperatures are now around 1.2°C higher than pre-industrial levels and driving more extreme weather.

The impacts are already here:

  • Heatwaves in the UK have caused thousands of excess deaths in recent years.
  • Flooding risk is rising, with millions of UK homes now at risk of surface water or river flooding.
  • Extreme weather is becoming more frequent and more severe everywhere; damaging homes, infrastructure and food systems - which ultimately pushes prices up for people in the UK from groceries to insurance costs.

Climate change isn’t a theory or a belief, it’s measured, observed and already affecting people’s lives. Denying it doesn’t stop the damage. It just delays action and makes the costs higher for everyone.

Read more including our fair solutions
A split image with one half showing a man wearing shorts in flooded waters, and in the other a firefighter staring down a forest on fire
Climate studies agree: climate change is happening and is caused by human activity.