Reform UK’s policies to “scrap net zero” would cost more than 60,000 jobs and wipe £92 billion off the UK economy, according to a new study.

Nigel Farage’s party — which took control of 10 councils in the recent local elections — this week claimed that the government could save £45 billion every year by ditching climate policies.

However, analysis by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) published today suggests that Reform’s policies would cost jobs and investment, and could raise household energy bills.  

Reform, which is currently raising money from oil and gas executives, has vowed to ditch the government’s target to cut emissions to net zero by 2050, scrap subsidies for renewable energy, and impose a windfall tax on wind and solar companies. Farage’s party would also expand new North Sea oil and gas extraction, claiming it would cut energy bills.

The NEF analysis estimates that Farage’s policies would cost more than 60,000 jobs in the growing wind and solar sectors by the end of the decade.

The analysis adds that 60,000 could be a “significant understatement”, given there are 273,000 people employed in these sectors, plus 678,000 in related supply chains.

This dwarfs the small number of new jobs that would likely be created by Reform’s plans to approve new North Sea oil and gas licences, said NEF. While the UK’s oil and gas reserves are dwindling, the country’s green economy grew by 10 percent in 2024.

The report concludes that making the UK renewables industry “unviable” would cost the economy around £92 billion – almost 3 percent of the UK’s GDP.

“Reform UK’s attack on net zero is reckless, economically illiterate and dangerous for Britain’s future,” said Chaitanya Kumar, head of economic and environmental policy at NEF.

“These measures will prevent billions of pounds being invested into the UK economy, drive up bills and will cost tens of thousands of jobs, including in some of the most deprived parts of the country.”

The analysis notes that Reform’s plan to expand oil and gas extraction would leave the UK vulnerable to a “gas price spike”, such as happened after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which could add at least £230 to household energy bills by 2030 compared to current government targets.

Kumar added: “The reality is net zero and investing in renewables is the greatest economic opportunity in this century. It will strengthen our economy, help cut bills for people across the country and help tackle the cost of living crisis.”

This comes as the party’s two recently elected mayors, Luke Campbell in Hull and East Yorkshire and Andrea Jenkyns in Greater Lincolnshire, have already drifted away from Reform’s anti-renewable policies and backed green investment in their areas. 

As DeSmog previously revealed, Reform UK received £2.3 million from climate deniers, polluters and fossil fuel interests between the 2019 and 2024 general elections — equivalent to 92 percent of its funding during the period.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC), a government advisory body, estimates the cost of net zero as less than one percent of annual GDP, while the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has stated that failing to get climate change under control would cost more than the measures designed to achieve net zero.