Climate scientist faces sack for refusing to fly to Germany from Solomon Islands

He has accumulated a tremendous amount of knowledge in his field. He represents an investment society has made into understanding climate science, and potentially doing something about it. Though as a scientist I doubt he is highly paid, his contribution to society, to his company, and the future of the human race is measured is measured in more than mere euros.

Yet despite all that, and despite his presence in Germany being urgently needed, he decides to throw a tantrum on Twitter over a single plane flight, and deny his knowledge from being available for 2-3 months of time. Completely self-centered and ridiculous.

But what about the opportunity cost of the time that he would use travelling by boat? Surely if he’s a top climate scientist he’s doing more hypothetical damage to the planet by not being on the job for three months than he would save by not polluting a few tons of CO2.

Travelling for two months on ships (which aren't exactly great for the environment either) and public transportation is a bit much. Perhaps it's not that bad considering he might be able to use the time for remote work, but it's absolutely understandable the employer doesn't agree those 3-4 tons of estimated CO2 savings are worth it.

Travelling to climate summits and other things that could be done via video calls is ridiculous, as is flying between two neighbouring cities because it's subsidized to a point it's cheaper than using a car. But there will always be cases where flying is just the most reasonable choice. Here it's the choice between 6 months field research + 2 flights or 10 months away from the desk and no flights.