Who is Gianluca Grimalda a real climate warrior?

A climate researcher says his employer fired him from his job for refusing to comply with a demand to fly back to Germany from Bougainville, off the coast of Papua New Guinea, at short notice.

After investigating the impacts of climate breakdown and globalisation on the island's inhabitants for six months, Gianluca Grimalda is still waiting in Bougainville to begin his return journey to Europe on a cargo ship, set to depart on Saturday.

Grimalda, who has avoided flying for more than a decade, said he had promised the people he met during his field work – some of whom had been displaced by rising waters – he would minimise his carbon emissions on his return journey.

"On Wednesday, Dr. Grimalda stated that the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank, was firing him after he refused to take transcontinental flights back from Papua New Guinea."

"Many people asked me if I regretted not catching a plane to go back," Dr. Grimalda wrote in an email. "And I answered no."

"He later said in a phone interview from Papua New Guinea, 'I have a moral commitment to this type of travel. I find peace within myself knowing that I have done the absolute right thing.'"

Elisabeth Radke, spokeswoman for the Kiel Institute, announced that the organization would not make public comments on personnel matters. She expressed its general support for climate-friendly and slow travel, stating that they held no general reservations about it. Radke further mentioned that the Kiel Institute had earlier supported Dr. Grimalda's slow travel plans.

"Dr. Grimalda announced that he first committed to avoiding flying whenever possible in 2010, and received support from the Kiel Institute, where he started working in 2013."

Who is Gianluca Grimalda?

Gianluca Grimalda is an Italian social scientist and experimental economist who specializes in the psychological and cultural bases of human cooperation, particularly in an international context. He has participated in the Trustlab project led by the OECD, which measures trust in others and governments internationally.

Grimalda has directed experimental research in developing countries such as Colombia and Papua New Guinea. His research has been published in interdisciplinary journals such as PNAS and Nature Communications. He has also served as a coordinating author in the International Panel on Social Progress, and chaired the “Social cohesion and global inequality” taskforce in the Think20 network.

Grimalda completed his doctoral degree in economics at the University of Pavia, Italy, after earning his Laurea in Economics and Social Sciences at the Bocconi University of Milan from 1990 to 1996.

His research interests include exploiting behavioral insights and understanding how labour market rigidity can foster economic efficiency. With his extensive experience and contributions to the field, Grimalda is a respected figure in social science and economics.

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