A madman or a prophet? This is the question I asked myself when I discovered Gianluca Grimalda’s story. A member of the movement Scientists in Rebellion, this Italian researcher refused to board a plane to respond to his employer’s request to quickly return to Europe from his research mission in… Papua New Guinea. A few days later, he learned of his dismissal from the World Economic Institute (ifW) from Kiel, Germany.

However, he spent six months working in remote areas of Bougainville Island to study the effects of climate change on the rural population: rising water levels, declining harvests and worsening social relations. He felt held back by the promise these men, women and children had made to return home using low-carbon modes of transport. “I think it is immoral to fly an airplane when there is an alternative that emits less carbon,” explains the researcher. tribune published on October 13 in a British newspaper The Guardian. As this question comes out pilgrim, Gianluca Grimalda may be on the train, traveling by ferry, freighter and bus. He calculated that the climate impact of this journey would be twelve times less than that of the air route. And it will take about 35 days instead of 32 hours by plane. His choice appeals to me both in its excess and its ethical precision. After all, isn’t this the hallmark of a prophetic gesture?