German Union Demands Climate Policy U-Turn

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe

For far too long, entrepreneurs and employee representatives have silently accepted the ecological crash course of politics. Now, the chemical union IG BCE is demanding a shift in climate policy. Slowly, the penny seems to be dropping.

A storm is brewing in Berlin. The faint rumble that barely drew attention weeks ago has now grown into unmistakable thunderclaps: After Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius sent an urgent letter to the Chancellor calling for a return to reality and a rethink of strict CO₂ targets, the chemical union IG BCE has voiced sharp criticism. Their message to policymakers is clear: the destructive climate policies from Brussels and Berlin are pushing industry to the brink of collapse.

End of the German Special Path 

The IG BCE calls for abandoning Germany’s national goal of climate neutrality by 2045. Union leader Michael Vassiliadis emphasized that many companies are fighting for survival. 40,000 jobs are at risk, and 12,000 employees are already on short-time work. Regarding climate targets, even aligning with the EU goal by extending the deadline five years to 2050 could help—but even that is not enough, says Vassiliadis, speaking for 570,000 members. Many companies need immediate support; otherwise, stagnation and job losses are inevitable.

The union is particularly critical of CO₂ pricing. This instrument doesn’t work as intended—it kills businesses, Vassiliadis says. And nowhere else in the world is it applied as harshly as in Germany. While Asia and the U.S. ignore European guidelines, German companies face massive competitive disadvantages. Technologies, infrastructure, and energy sources for climate-neutral production at reasonable costs simply do not exist.

Germany’s “special path” keeps standing out. In the land of devout climate activists, the aim is to set a good example. Realism, global perspectives, and climate facts are ridiculed and dismissed as much as possible by climate proselytes in the media, NGOs, and politics.

The Consequences Are Real 

The hardest hit are energy-intensive sectors—chemicals, plastics, rubber, glass, paper. Production is falling everywhere; entire value chains are disappearing. Vassiliadis’ words send a clear signal: even in traditionally SPD-aligned unions, long conditioned to ecological orthodoxy, open resistance to green climate policy is growing.

The Dam Has Broken 

The dam seems broken; the vow of silence by business and unions has ended. The crisis of the German economy—now in its third year of recession—cannot be ignored. The country has become a location from which capital flees rather than settles. Last year alone, €64.5 billion in net direct investment was withdrawn. These are real investments that create jobs and secure the future.

Across party lines, ecological zeal has caused irreparable social damage. Since 2019, some 250,000 industrial jobs have been lost; in Q2 2025, industrial employment fell 2.1 percent, about 4.3 percent over six years. Currently, 5.43 million people still work in industry, but they sit on a melting iceberg—over 100,000 positions vanished in 2024, including 45,400 in the automotive sector.

Construction is also in retreat: bankruptcies rose 17 percent last year—high interest rates, declining orders, and Kafkaesque bureaucracy paralyze investors and builders.

Industry Raises Sails 

Chemical and steel production, among others, have dropped over 15 percent since pre-COVID times—Germany’s economic decline is absolute, accelerating, and eroding the foundations of society.

Depression, Not Recession 

The numbers describe an economic depression. Calling it a recession would be euphemistic, masking the damage green fanaticism and unbridled regulation have caused. The state has been captured by green-socialist ideologues, turning it into a weapon against the heart of the German economy.

It is regrettable that it took so long for leading economic figures to oppose this destructive course, fulfilling their civil responsibility. The elite has so far failed to meet its rightful high standards. Respect is due to Källenius and Vassiliadis, who now stand against the powerful climate lobby and must hope for allies.

Dealing With the New Command Economy 

Germany—and by extension all EU states—will soon be forced by economic realities to a regulatory pivot: Brussels and national planners are running out of money for further experiments. The same will soon affect the defense industry.

The Argentine model seems paradigmatic: bureaucracy and regulation must be compressed with a shock moment. “Economy before politics” must prevail; all attacks on private wealth and economic freedom—minimum wages, rent caps, heat pump mandates, or the combustion engine ban—must be buried in the swamp of socialist experiments.

That the IG Metall seems ready to convert struggling civilian production into a wartime economy with state aid would be a step from the frying pan into the fire.

We need consensus that state-managed economies fail and cannot work. Agreement is essential to politically and narratively break Brussels’ front.

Brussels in Heavy Turbulence 

Green transformation and the attempted European wartime economy must be understood together. The political aim is to revive idle industrial capacity, control basic industry and energy sectors, and establish a green-socialist command economy. Power is prioritized over societal prosperity and individual freedom—a Brussels minor key.

But the Eurocrats’ score ends abruptly. Public debt, permanent recession, job losses, and growing criticism of Brussels’ ideological course threaten the centralization project. German criticism cannot be ignored; international business representatives will join German “strikebreakers.” The clock is ticking for Brussels.

President Ursula von der Leyen and her EU Commission face a multi-front battle, with the U.S. increasing pressure on Brussels’ regulatory and censorship policies. The coming weeks will be challenging.

Possibly, the last week of August 2025 marks a groundbreaking wake-up call from the German economic elite, finally stirring the sluggish Berlin coalition. Anything less than a complete break with planned climate policy signals either political incapacity or unwillingness to reform. Given deep entanglements with the climate complex, a hard clash between ideology and civil society seems inevitable.

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About the author: Thomas Kolbe, a German graduate economist, 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.