Chinese Style Social Credit System to Launch in Italy and Germany this Year (Video)

The “Smart Citizen Wallet” pilot project in Bologna, Italy, is currently making headlines. It will be launched in September and focus on “the virtuous citizen: Those who are good and, for example, separate their trash, save energy and use public transport, are to be rewarded with points for which they can secure certain benefits. Sadly, what many consider to be the first social credit system in Europe is not a novelty: In Bavaria, a very similar system has long been planned in the form of the “Ökotoken.”

The Bavarian “sustainability token” appeared earlier in the long version of the “climate protection offensive” of 2019. The stated goal is to “promote sustainable behavior in everyday life by rewarding environmentally conscious actions.” The token is intended to have a “signal effect for companies and citizens” (in other words, it is an educational measure). The State Ministry for Digital Affairs is responsible.

The brief description reads as follows:

• Development of a documentation system including an evaluation framework, in which users can collect plus points in the form of sustainability tokens according to their environmentally conscious behavior; these can then be used for discounts with partners (theaters, swimming pools, possibly organic markets).
• Establish a state office and create a consortium for the operative business.
• Integration of a financial service provider, e.g., Landesbank, for in-valuation and exchange for the partners, see below.
• Networking of partners from business and the public sector

Implementation was initially planned for 2021 — however, a response to a question to the Bavarian State Parliament in August 2021 indicates that Covid originally put a spanner in the works:

The “ecotoken” (working title) has not yet been used. The measure has been suspended mainly due to the pandemic, especially because of the bonus benefits for environmentally friendly behavior, which should preferably concern similar activities, such as visiting cultural institutions or the like.

However, the project was only temporarily put on hold. A summary of the package of measures in the “Climate Protection Offensive” dated November 15, 2021, indicates that the so-called “ecotoken” is to be implemented in 2022. Of course, this fits in perfectly with the current “freeze for peace” propaganda: the Ukraine war is currently being shamelessly abused to push through the “energy transition,” which is highly damaging for Germany.