True: “The European Union’s climate tax is as much as 60% of the energy production costs.”

Numerous billboards around Poland appeared around February 2022, reading: “The European Union’s climate tax is as much as 60% of the energy production costs. EU climate politics = expensive energy/high prices.” The billboards turned out to be part of a campaign ran by Polish state-owned utility companies, financed by the Polish Ministry of State Assets.…

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)…

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…

True: Greenhouse gas emissions have to drop 50% in eight years to stay below 1.5 degrees

As climate change becomes ever more apparent, calls for action and consistent measures are multiplying. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), says as part of the launch of the UNEP Emissions Gap Report (EGR21) that to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, we have eight years to nearly halve greenhouse gas…

True: „One third of EU exports to South Korea are made in Germany“

The lobby organization Initiative for Social Market Economy (INSM) published nine facts about the EU on their website. One of them is “One third of EU exports to South Korea are made in Germany”, which seemed to be true.  The INSM is financed by employers’ associations and, according to its own statement, acts independently of political parties. As…

True: „More than 70 percent of adults in the EU are fully vaccinated”

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission since 2019, stated on the 15th September 2021 in her speech in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg that more than 70 percent of the European adult population were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This claim turns out to be true. Every September the President of…