MAASTRICHT. As of January 2019, researchers [and other staff] from the UNU-MERIT institute pay a flying tax when they book a domestic flight or a flight abroad. The tax is deducted from the project budget. “I was slightly apprehensive for the reactions,” says director Bart Verspagen, “but the plan went down well.” At UNU-MERIT, which has more than 100 researchers, there is a lot of flying, says Verspagen. “We calculated that our members of staff emitted approximately 450 tonnes of CO2 in 2018. I...
The UN’s research and training institute in the Netherlands, UNU-MERIT, has introduced a carbon ‘tax’ on air travel for its more than 100 staff and researchers. As of 1 January 2019, all business travel by plane will incur an additional premium, which will be used to offset carbon emissions. Part of a broader programme encompassing the use of solar panels, factory water to heat and cool offices, and vegan lunch options, the new tax will make the institute more sustainable in its operations as we...
Prof. Pierre Mohnen will lead UNU-MERIT’s stake in WATSON – a new 1 million euro innovation project funded by the European Commission. Part of the Horizon 2020 programme, WATSON is an 18-month project involving EU research institutions and SMEs working in Fintech, financial services and economics. We caught up with Pierre to find out more. What’s our role and who are the other partners? The WATSON project focuses on R&D tax incentives to promote innovation in Small and Medium-sized Ent...
A country’s ability to close the fiscal gap is based on its tax revenue, and there are three clear reasons for this. First, since the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the 2030 Agenda, implementation is mainly the responsibility of the countries themselves, not NGOs or the private sector....