If you’ve ever been asked to take a work trip you didn’t think was necessary, spare a thought for Dr Gianluca Grimalda, a climate researcher who was fired by his employer for his refusal to fly. It’s a case that has now won him a significant sum in compensation and is generating debate about corporate attitudes to the climate crisis.
28,000km without a plane
Grimalda, once a worker at Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), made a field research trip to Bougainville, Papua New Guinea in 2023. His plan to undertake the whole 27,000km journey without flying in order to keep his carbon footprint low, was approved by the IfW, and the outward journey from Europe to the southwest Pacific took 35 days, including over 50% of the travel carried out overland through Iran, India, and Thailand.
After 6 months of fieldwork in Bougainville🇵🇬, I'm ready to embark on leg 1 of my #NoFly journey to Germany. Travelling by🚢,🚅,&🚌over 27,000km, I'll emit ~535kg of CO2, 10 times less than✈️. This decision cost me my job, but I still think it was the right thing to do. 1/🧵 pic.twitter.com/nT6zJvCLFX
— dr. gianluca grimalda (@GGrimalda) October 15, 2023
Documenting his journey on social media, he also shared his growing conviction that the slow travel method, which reduced his emissions from 5,000kg to just 500, was the correct choice, telling The Independent : “I’m going to stick to this promise I made to all these people who are so exposed to climate change without having any responsibility. Sea-level rise is not because of their emissions. People from the US and Europe, with the highest carbon footprints in the world, bear the greatest responsibility.”
Proud to #StayGrounded!Maybe longer than expected,though. I'd been told there'd be passenger ferries travelling to my next destination in a couple of days,insead it seems the next available one is in 10 days. I'll check with 🇵🇬Maritime authority tomorrow.#Slowtravel *is* slow.12/ pic.twitter.com/vWQ3rKLtJd
— dr. gianluca grimalda (@GGrimalda) October 20, 2023
Tens of thousands in compensation
But when Grimalda told his employer that the trip back would take nearly two months due to a range of delaying factors including visa issues, security threats, and volcanic activity, the Institute demanded he return immediately by plane. He refused and the Institute, which describes itself as “the research institute in Germany for globalization issues”, promptly sacked him.
Now though, after legal wrangles of over a year during which the Kiel Regional Labour Court initially ruled against Grimalda, his climate consciousness has been vindicated. His appeal has resulted in a settlement worth an undisclosed amount of compensation, with the figure at least in the tens of thousands of euros since the researcher has promised to donate €75,000 of it to climate activism and research.
Should climate-consciousness be a labour right?
In its latest decision, and using wording that does the Kiel Institute little reputational good, the court has said the body and Grimalda have “incompatible ideological convictions”. It repealed his immediate termination and exonerated him of any breach of contract.
Grimalda’s lawyer, Jörn A. Broschat, said the disagreement and settlement are evidence that “It’s time for lawmakers and collective bargaining parties to enshrine climate-conscious practices as labour rights.”
It’s a hope echoed by Grimalda. “I hope that my case will encourage more employees, institutions, and companies to actively support the transition from fossil fuel-based economies to decarbonised and people-centred societies,” he said.
