True: “Belgium drops to the 49th place in the Climate Change Performance Index”

On November 9, 2021, Flemish newspaper “De Morgen” published an article titled “Belgium loses more terrain on climate index: 49th place between Belarus and Slovenia.” Does Belgium really perform that bad in the Climate Change Performance Index compared to other European countries? Yes, it does. What is the CCPI? The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)…

Uncheckable: “Drastic increase in suicide attempts by children“

According to an article published by Berliner Morgenpost on January 6, a study of the Essen University Hospital claims that up to 500 children required treatment in intensive care units in Germany after suicide attempts. Since it is not possible to verify this statement, this claim must be classified as uncheckable. The article explains that the lockdown…

True: “China dominates the global graphite market, threatening electric cars’ production”

In an article titled “Chinese graphite dominance threatens electric car ambitions”, posted on 14th March 2022, “Deutsche Welle” reports that Chinese graphite dominance threatens electric car ambitions worldwide. The author Ashutosh Pandey (Senior Business Editor for DW) states that China is a dominating force in the graphite supply chain, bearing in mind that the material…

Uncheckable: “Generation Z has more mental health problems than any other generation before”

German trend researcher Corinna Mühlhausen claims to have found out that “Generation Z suffers from psychological problems more than any other generation before it”. Even though the numbers of psychotherapies of children and adolescents are rising rapidly right now, it is not possible to verify this fact clearly. Therefore this claim must be classified as…

False: “Belgium blocks the waiver to release Covid-vaccine patents for the third world the most”

On January 15 2022, the chairman of the far-left party PVDA Raoul Hedebouw joined Conner Rousseau, chairman of left-wing party Vooruit, in an interview with De Morgen to discuss the possibility of releasing the Covid-vaccine patents. During this interview Hedebouw claimed that “of all European countries, Belgium blocks the waiver to release Covid-vaccine patents for…

Uncheckable: Deloitte Belgium claims to have reduced its CO2-emissions by a third in three years

Deloitte Belgium, the Belgian subsidiary of the global corporate services conglomerate, claimed in its yearly press release of 2020 that the company was able to reduce its carbon emissions by a third over the last three years. This claim turns out to be uncheckable. Deloitte is globally settled in over 150 countries with Deloitte Central…

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Mostly false: new measures drop Moldova’s vaccination rate by almost 60%

With less than 40% of the population having been administered two doses, Moldova lags behind EU countries in the area of vaccination against covid19; an important concern for its national law-making authorities. After loosing its parliamentary majority in July 2021, the Moldovan Socialist Party claimed that the new government’s measures led to a near 60%…