Licensed for refusing to take the plane, « the climate conscience » Gianluca Grimalda found a job – Liberation
We had left Gianluca Grimalda licensed and In the middle of the Salomon islands road to Germany. We find it in 2025 with a new job, a film and a book telling its story. In 2023, Gianluca Grimalda became the first licensed person for refusing to take the plane. A climate conscientious objector. This June 3, the researcher resumes contact with us. « I finally accepted a job offer from Masaryk University in Czech Republic »he explains to us in his email. He will take his post in January 2026, for a round trip, without plane, in Papua-Nouvelle-Guinée « To finish my project on climate adaptation among the inhabitants of Bougainville »he said again. With ReleaseMasaryk University specifies to be able to « Reconcile » Grimalda’s desire not to take the plane « With the legal and logistical constraints that apply in our institutional context ».
Gianluca Grimalda therefore gave in nothing. Neither on his interest in adapting to global warming of island populations, nor on his fierce desire to never climb on an airplane. However, its resolution was put to the test. It was in 2023. The Italian scientist, specialized in social psychology, had received an ultimatum from his employer, the Institute for the World Economy (IFW) of Kiel (northern Germany), intimating him from « Return by plane » From Papua New Guinea, under penalty of dismissal. Refusal of the person concerned. On October 11, a letter from his employer, told him that their « working relationship was over « .
Ecologist militant member of the Scientist Rebellion collective, the man refuses to traverse by the tunes. “With a single plane trip, I would have cleared as much CO2 as an average person over a year. It is absolutely unthinkable for me ”he explained. As a result, instead of two days, his travels take him several weeks, marked, among other things, by taking hostage fomented by independence veterans and a volcanic eruption. An adventure life he tells in a book published in Italian, A Fuoco Il Mondo Brucia. È ora di disobbedire (« On fire, the world burns, it’s time to disobey », ed. Feltrineli) and in a documentary signed Paolo Casalis. He also participated in a film, entitled The Researcher, who received the prize for the best work of educational path to FROM FILM FRIEND OF FROME (United Kingdom), in May.
The videos were taken by Gianluca Grimalda himself, under the direction of Paolo Casalis. « When I proposed to Gianluca the project to make a documentary on his travel with a low carbon program, I would never have imagined that he would end up detailing a significant case of civil disobedience for the environment »explains the director in a press release.
The conflict with his former employer has also been settled since January 2025. IFW and the researcher have accepted the agreement proposed by the Kiel Labor Court. He was not rehired but he affected a confidential starting indemnity. The researcher undertook to give 75,000 euros to associations. IFW refuses to comment on this case. “The judge has implicitly recognized the impossibility of dismissing an employee because of his refusal to take the plane. I hope that my case will encourage more employees, institutions and businesses to actively support the transition from an economy based on fossil fuels towards decarbonized and human -centered societies ”hopes Gianluca Grimalda. Man knows the question of the answer to climate change. He studied in particular the psychological and social springs behind the decisions of the societies of Bougainville Island in the face of the collective risk represented by global warming, and in particular the rise of waters. His new employer values « His expertise in the conduct of experiences in the field in geographic areas which often escape the traditional field of action of Western universities ».
