Evonik CEO Kullmann Calls For End Of CO₂ Cult: Wake-Up Call For Europe's Economy

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe

For a long time, the German economy remained silent on the dogmatic climate goals and the politically destructive course. Now, Christian Kullmann, CEO of Evonik, is the first business leader to speak plainly. It is time to bury the CO₂ cult.

Finally, one might say, after years of deafening silence from German industry, a CEO is speaking openly. Christian Kullmann, head of the chemical giant Evonik, is at the forefront of the fight against ever-tighter climate regulations from Brussels and Berlin.

Looking ahead to the drastic tightening of the emissions trading system planned for 2027, Kullmann spared no words in an interview with the FAZ: “The CO₂ levy for Europe must go. It threatens at least 200,000 well-paid industrial jobs in Germany.”

Industrial Collapse

And that is likely a conservative estimate. Currently, the economy is forced to cut more than 10,000 jobs per week. Companies such as Bosch, with 22,000 planned cuts, and ZF Friedrichshafen, planning 7,600 by 2030, are slashing jobs on a massive scale. A wave of insolvencies is sweeping across the German economy, expected to break all records with over 24,000 bankruptcies by year-end.

Kullmann’s blunt statement may mark the start of a long-overdue debate on the real costs of European climate policy for the German economy and heavily burdened households.

From 2027, the CO₂ emissions trading system threatens Germany with another cost tsunami: the price per ton of CO₂ could rise to as much as €200, drastically increasing heating, fuel, and energy costs. Households could pay an additional €1,000 annually, while companies face soaring production costs, reduced investment, and job cuts.

Economically, this radical step would impose around €40 billion in extra costs annually on a consumption of 400 million tons, accelerating the socially and politically dangerous deindustrialization.

The EU: An Expensive Affair

What leftist and eco-socialist ideologues unleashed with the Green Deal has become a socio-political landslide. Bureaucracies and official circles have yet to realize that their campaign against civil society and market rules is already lost.

In Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and other capitals of the European debt union, they respond with ever more levies to stave off their own collapse.

Revenue from the CO₂ levy is used almost exclusively to stabilize overstretched national budgets: about 90 percent flows to national treasuries, the rest to Ursula von der Leyen’s EU coffers, which will inject around €750 billion in subsidies into the dried-up channels of the green patronage economy by 2034.

And Brussels’ megalomania knows no bounds. Every capital source is tapped—from steel tariffs to recycling taxes on plastic products. The EU is an expensive ideological game. It is now the ethical duty of business leaders to resist this campaign against reason and market principles. Failure to act risks direct confrontation in the markets. Brussels will be forced to refinance via bond markets—disguised as Eurobonds.

The Commission has positioned itself at the head of a debt union that suffocates the free market with its sprawling, centrally planned ecological patronage economy.

Spain as a Counterpoint

It is likely that after Kullmann’s criticism, a massive wave of counter-propaganda will arise. NGOs and state-affiliated media will mobilize every resource to rally Europeans against the imagined threat of man-made climate change.

Critical voices are often dismissed with a single example—a sign of how detached Brussels officials are from reality. This example comes from Spain. Officially, Spain’s economy will grow by about 2.5% in 2025, with a state quota of 48%, total debt of 109%, and a net new debt of 3.5%.

Even the much-praised Spain fails to meet the once-celebrated Maastricht criteria—just like Germany. Looking at the situation realistically, private industry shrinks by about 1% despite massive Brussels credit support and programs like NextGenerationEU.

But nowhere is the collateral damage of eco-socialism more evident than in Germany. The dramatic industrial output drop from July to August—4.3% overall, 18.5% in the auto sector, over 10% in pharmaceuticals—should serve as a warning even to the staunchest ideologist.

What central planners like Lars Klingbeil, Friedrich Merz, and the Brussels bureaucrats fail to grasp: every euro not flowing through the free market is a lost euro. Through massive interventions and debt-financed programs, states restrict the private sector’s room to invest in the future, endangering Europe’s prosperity engine.

Companies and their workforces will not tolerate this development for long. We are not witnessing a cyclical downturn or a classic recession—but a full economic collapse.

Using the Crisis

Europeans embarked on a climate crusade in recent years. Intellectual and ethical misadventures like this only thrive on the economic success of previous generations, who left their heirs an illusion of growth and the promise of effortless prosperity.

Let us hope that the Evonik CEO’s voice opens the door to real criticism—a catalyst whose bold impulse sparks a chain reaction of open, constructive debate.

Until now, criticism within German industry has entangled itself within the political framework. Calls for aid and subsidies, especially for energy costs, dominated. But this was not true policy critique—it was submission to the eco-dictate.

It is the ethical duty of business leaders to draw the line for politics. Too much is at stake to entrust it to infantile ideology. Its time is over. The crisis is unavoidable. But now we can begin rebuilding a market-based rulebook and sovereign policies in Europe’s national states. Brussels’ task would remain the safeguarding of the common internal market—a challenge more than demanding.

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About the author: Thomas Kolbe is a German graduate economist, who has worked for over 25 years as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination.

 

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 08:10

Want A Second Passport? These 13 Countries Let You Buy Citizenship

Citizenship by investment programs give wealthy individuals the chance to secure a second passport by making significant financial contributions. The requirements vary by country, but these programs typically seek investments in businesses, development funds, or direct donations.

In return, obtaining a second passport offers benefits like visa-free travel, tax advantages, or a backup plan in the event of political or economic turmoil.

In this visualization, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu breaks down the required contributions across 13 countries offering citizenship by investment, showing how much applicants need to spend to qualify.

Data & Discussion

The data for this visualization comes from Henley & Partners, highlighting the minimum contribution required by select countries offering citizenship by investment.

Note that this is not an exhaustive list, and that many other countries have some form of investment migration legislation.

The More Affordable Options

At the lower end of the spectrum, Nauru offers a relatively cheaper program at about $130,000. The country’s passport provides visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to nearly 90 countries, though it lacks the broader travel privileges of Caribbean or European citizenship programs.

Dominica, Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Lucia are also affordable, requiring investments between $200,000 and $240,000. These Caribbean programs are popular for their cost-effectiveness and the travel flexibility they provide within the region.

Here’s a closer look at the benefits of Dominica’s citizenship by investment program:

• Offers visa-free travel to over 140 destinations
• Ability to include a spouse, unmarried children under 31, and parents & grandparents aged 65 and older
• Citizenship by descent available for future generations

To qualify for the program, applicants have the option of making a non-refundable contribution of $200,000 to Dominica’s Economic Development Fund (for a single applicant), or making a real estate purchase with a minimum value of $200,000.

Mid-Tier Investment Thresholds

Countries like Türkiye, Grenada, and Egypt fall in the middle range, with required contributions between $235,000 and $400,000.

Launched in 2017, Türkiye’s program has become attractive due to its large real estate market and access to both European and Middle Eastern travel corridors.

Applicants have many options to participate in the program, including, but not limited to:

• Acquire $400,000 worth of real estate

• Deposit at least $500,000 into a Turkish bank account

• Create jobs for at least 50 people, as attested by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services

High-End Citizenship Programs

At the top end, Malta and Montenegro require close to or more than $500,000, while Austria demands a “substantial contribution,” often exceeding several million.

These higher thresholds reflect the perceived value of EU citizenship, which offers broad visa-free access, stability, and economic advantages. As of 2025, Austria’s passport is considered the fourth most powerful in the world.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Daily Cost of Traveling in Europe on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

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Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 07:35

Baltic States Prepare Mass Evacuation Plans Amid Growing Fears Of Russian Attack

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are drawing up detailed plans to evacuate vast numbers of their citizens to the countries’ west in the event of a Russian invasion, with officials warning that Moscow could attempt to overrun all three Baltic states in less than a week.

Reuters reported that planning has accelerated since May, when the three countries agreed to coordinate civil protection efforts amid mounting concern over Russian aggression.

The Baltic governments have doubled their defense spending since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, citing repeated Russian cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and recent violations of Baltic airspace by Russian fighter jets and drones as signs of growing hostility.

“It is possible that we will see a massive army along the Baltic borders with the obvious goal of conquering all three countries within three days to a week,” said Renatas Požéla, head of Lithuania’s fire and rescue service, as cited by Denník N.

While a conventional invasion remains the most serious scenario, governments are also preparing for a range of other destabilizing events, from sabotage of transportation networks and mass migration waves to civil unrest among Russian-speaking minorities and disinformation campaigns designed to trigger panic.

Exercises are already taking place. A recent drill in Lithuania involved evacuating just 100 people from Vilnius, but Požéla said real plans envision moving around 400,000 residents — roughly half of those living within 40 kilometers of the Russian and Belarusian borders. Kaunas, Lithuania’s second-largest city, has prepared to accommodate 300,000 people in schools, churches, universities, and a stadium. The city is located further west than the capital Vilnius, which lies close to the Belarusian border.

Those fleeing west by car would be diverted to secondary roads to keep main routes clear for mobilization, with maps showing where evacuees could seek refuge already having been distributed.

None of the Baltic states currently plan to relocate civilians beyond their borders, which would require military convoys to negotiate Poland’s Suwałki Gap, sandwiched between Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.

“We have to take into account the risk presented by the Suwałki Corridor,” said Estonian security expert Ivar Mai.

Estonia is preparing to move around 10 percent of its 1.4 million residents into temporary shelters, with many more expected to stay with relatives. In Narva, a city with a large Russian-speaking population, two-thirds of its 50,000 residents could be evacuated, with the government assisting at least half. “It’s only for those who have nowhere else to go,” Mai explained.

Latvia is preparing for even larger displacements. Around one-third of its 1.9 million citizens could be forced from their homes in the event of war, said Ivars Nakurts, deputy commander of the Latvian Fire and Rescue Service. “Count on everything,” he warned.

Incidents involving Russian incursions into EU airspace have been reported more frequently in recent months, including the drones reported in Poland and fighter jets entering Estonian territory last month.

However, Moscow insists it has no intention of invading any EU member state.

Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly in New York last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, “Threats of force against Russia, accused of practically planning an attack on NATO and the European Union, are becoming increasingly common. President Putin has repeatedly debunked such provocations.

“Russia has never had and does not have such intentions, but any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response.”

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 07:00

Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures:

• Who maintains the scaffolding of freedom? The prosperity the western world enjoyed for decades was the result of ideas, specifically classical liberal ideas about free trade, individual rights, limited government, and rule of law. They created the conditions under which innovation flourished in the US. But ideas are like infrastructure. If you don’t maintain them, they decay. (Get Down and Shruti)

• Why San Francisco has seen a sudden, stunning surge in the demand for mansions. San Francisco has long been a market for the affluent, but if recent developments are any indication, the city’s longstanding wealth gap is about to become even more pronounced: Luxury homes across the city are selling faster than they have in a while as the AI boom floods San Francisco with fresh riches. Startups are scaling fast, stock options are turning into cash, and high-paid tech workers are returning to the city amid fierce talent wars fought by employers — boosting demand for real estate and pushing the high-end market into gear. (San Francisco Chronicle) see also How Florida uses your taxes after hurricanes fits the definition of insanity: What our state calls storm resiliency planning requires hardworking taxpayers to pay for some of our wealthiest residents’ lifestyle choices, which often include rebuilding in hurricane-prone areas. (USA Today)

• The Age of Enshittification: In a new book, the technology critic Cory Doctorow expands on a coinage that has become bleakly relevant, in Silicon Valley and beyond. (New Yorker)

• Famous Cognitive Psychology Experiments that Failed to Replicate.  The field of psychology had a big crisis in the 2010s, when many widely accepted results turned out to be much less solid than previously thought. It’s called the replication crisis, because labs around the world tried and failed to replicate, in new experiments, previous results published by their original “discoverers.” (Aether Mug)

• Americans can’t stop betting parlays. Sportbooks are cashing in. It is called a parlay – a single wager that depends on you getting each of the component bets correct. massively popular type of wager that offers long odds and big potential payouts. And bettors love parlays. (Washington Post) see also Sports Betting Apps Have a Powerful New Tool to Keep Users Gambling: In-game betting is predicted to grow to more than $14 billion by the end of the decade. It’s a huge part of the sports gambling industry. Public health officials worry that it could be increasing the risks for gamblers. Credit… (New York Times)

• A biological 0-day? Threat-screening tools may miss AI-designed proteins. Ordering DNA for AI-designed toxins doesn’t always raise red flags. (Ars Technica)

• Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August: The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic. (New York Times)

• The Viral MAGA Accounts Run by a Man Who Has Never Been to America: The right loves the accounts, which often rail against supposed voter fraud. They’re run by a Macedonian who illegally donated to a U.S. House candidate. (Rolling Stone) See also The Macedonian Fake News Industry and US Elections. During fieldwork in Veles, where we interviewed several residents and disinformation creators, we found that the epicenter of this viral phenomenon was Mirko Ceselkoski, an autodidact social media expert, teacher, and mentor to Veles’ fake news operators. We interviewed Ceselkoski and registered and attended his online course—the same course numerous Veles residents took offline. Our research confirms (1) the pivotal role Ceselkoski had in the creation of this industry; (2) the economic motivation driving the fake news disseminators; and (3) the manner in which the mostly young people in their early twenties with little English fluency were able to generate so much traffic and disseminate so much disinformation. (Cambridge Core)

• Frankenstein’s Sheep: Cloned and genetically modified animals are entering the black market, possibly forever altering our ecosystems. (New York Magazine)

• Why does the Supreme Court keep bending the knee to Trump? As a new term begins, the justices have continually failed to provide a check on presidential power – with disastrous consequences. (The Guardian)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this weekend with Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro at Fidelity Investments, which manages $16 trillion in for 20 million clients. Timmer, a Chartered Market Technician (CMT), is part of Fidelity’s Global Asset Allocation (GAA) group, anf specializes in asset allocation and global macro strategy.

 

These 20 Popular Apps Are Tracking Everything You Do

Source: PC Magazine

 

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The post 10 Sunday Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

Teenagers Must Be Warned About The Dystopia Being Built Around Them

The following is the introduction to Mike Fairclough’s new book 2030 – a dystopian novel aimed at teenagers.

I want to speak to you directly, before the story begins.

When I was your age, the books we studied at school were dangerous in the best sense of the word. We read George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984. We read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. We were exposed to stories of mythological heroes – ordinary men and women who faced extraordinary challenges.

These books didn’t come with ‘trigger warnings’. They weren’t wrapped in cotton wool. They were meant to disturb, to challenge, to wake you up.

I grew up in a time when boys were boys and girls were girls. Our fathers, and our grandfathers before them, had fought in wars or been raised in the shadow of those who did. They taught us grit, resilience, and the courage to stand up when something was wrong.

We were also raised with pride in our British heritage. Our history, our culture, our traditions and our flag were things to respect, not to be ashamed of. We learned that our nation had stood up against tyranny, twice, and paid the price in blood. We sang songs that carried our past. We flew the Union Jack as a symbol of unity, freedom and identity.

Today, children and young people are told to see their history not as a source of pride or strength, but as a catalogue of guilt. They are taught that the victories of their ancestors were crimes, that courage was cruelty and that sacrifice was oppression. They are urged to turn away from their heritage, to treat their own flag as a symbol of shame, and to believe that the culture which once defended freedom is now too offensive to exist.

Much of what shaped us has been stolen from you. Books that once inspired rebellion are now treated as dangerous objects. Classrooms have become indoctrination centres. Children are drilled to fear the weather, to doubt their own identity, to repeat slogans about ‘inclusion’ while real truth is erased. Men are called ‘toxic’ simply for being men. Women are told that men can be women and therefore women are redundant.

I spent many years as the headmaster of a school, and almost 30 years teaching within the English education system. I am now the author of books, an editor, a ghostwriter and a campaigner for freedom.

I have lost count of the number of parents who have said to me, Write something for our children, something that tells the truth.

That is why I have written 2030.

Make no mistake, this book is not pure fiction. It is a prophecy. If we do nothing, if we stay silent, if we accept every slogan and every fear they press upon us, then 2030 will not be a story. It will be your future. Adults may deny this, but the task of resistance will fall to the young. To you.

So read carefully. Remember what has been erased. And when the time comes for you to stand, take your decision with conviction and purpose. Because if you do not stand, nobody else will.

A Note on Style

As a headmaster, my approach to education was celebrated internationally. It was rooted in something called character education, a philosophy in which young people were expected to move beyond their comfort zones. I saw children thrive when they lit fires in sub-zero temperatures, fired shotguns with steady hands, camped under the stars and faced personal challenges that demanded grit. Those experiences expanded them. They forged strength. They forged resilience.

This book has been written with the same spirit. You are about to enter a dystopian world. It is deliberately crafted to feel that way. The early chapters may feel like a grind, heavy, relentless. That is intentional. This is not TikTok with its quick dopamine hits, nor a Hollywood blockbuster that begins with explosions. This story asks for your focus, your stamina. The hardest journeys are the ones that change us most deeply.

And while the opening chapters set the weight of this world, know that the journey does not remain there.

The path widens, the pace quickens, and what follows will reward your perseverance.

2030 is not an ordinary book. You will discover, as you read, that you are not simply an observer. You are a participant. This story is rooted in truth. You, the reader, have the most important role to play.

So buckle up. Stay with me. Let us step together into 2030. Because until you realise you are sleepwalking into dystopia, you cannot begin to unlock the prison door.

And when that moment comes, you will discover just how powerful you truly are.

Chapter 1: The Digital Prison

George woke to silence. Not the silence of peace, but the heavy, engineered quiet of a world with no birdsong, no traffic, no laughter. The Council had found ways to mute even the dawn.

His room was the same as every other room, square walls, pale light, a bed without softness. A clock blinked on the wall, but its hands did not tick. Time was measured now in doses and data, not in minutes and hours.

He sat up slowly, pressing his palms against his eyes. The same dream again, a sound he could not place, a ripple of joy, a child’s laugh that did not belong in this world. He tried to catch it, to hold it in his memory, but it slipped away like water through his fingers.

The World Safety Council called these fragments ‘spikes’. Citizens were taught to report them immediately, to present themselves for correction. But George had learned to keep his silence. To carry the spike quietly. To let it burn like a secret fire.

Today would be no different. He would dress in the World Safety Council’s uniform, walk the Council’s streets, speak the Council’s words. But deep inside, he carried something the injections and lessons had never erased. A trace of another life. A whisper that the world had once been more than this.

And the walls, though he did not yet know it, remembered too.

Mike Fairclough was the only serving headteacher or school principal (out of 43,500 in the U.K.) to publicly question the rollout of the Covid vaccine to children. His new book, 2030, is now available on Amazon.

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Tyler Durden Sat, 10/11/2025 - 23:20

Over 1 Billion People Live In Slums

Each year, the first Monday of October marks World Habitat Day, which aims to reflect on the state of towns and cities, and on the right of all to adequate shelter.

The share of people living in urban areas is expected to continue growing in the coming decades.

According to United Nations estimates, 57 percent of the world's population now lives in cities, but this figure could rise to 68 percent by 2050, driven by continued urbanisation in Asia and Africa.

However, in these regions of the world, urban growth is often forced and unplanned, with inadequate or failing infrastructure.

As a result, much of the urban expansion takes place in slums, areas of self-built, unsanitary housing where extreme poverty is rife.

Over the past 20 years, the United Nations estimates that the number of people living in slums has risen from 895 million to 1.1 billion.

As Statista's Valentine Fourreau shows in the chart below, the regions where city dwellers are most exposed to these harmful living conditions are sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where it is estimated that around 50 percent of the urban population lived in slums in 2022 (compared to 23 percent globally).

You will find more infographics at Statista

As the map shows, this rate rises to more than two out of three city dwellers in countries such as South Sudan (94.2 percent), Mali (92.5 percent) or Afghanistan (71.6 percent).

The share of the urban population living in slums was higher than 50 percent in Pakistan and Laos. In India, around 41.5 percent of the urban population lived in slums in 2022, down from 55 percent since 2002.

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/11/2025 - 22:45