Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542534
MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt 9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 JANUARY 2026 NEWS Climate activist seeks funding for 12,000km walk from Malta to India JAYDIP Lakhankiya was stud- ying hotel management when a discussion on sustainable tour- ism intrigued him and led him down a rabbit hole of research on climate change. His thirst for knowledge quick- ly turned into a yearning for ac- tivism and sowed the seed of an idea to become the first person to walk from Malta to India. I meet Jaydip in a quiet coffee shop where he sets out to ex- plain the "mad idea" of travel- ling 12,000km to the other side of the world on foot to raise awareness on climate change. "My research on climate change immediately showed me what reality was at stake for millions of people," Jaydip says. "It hit me like a bus and it was difficult to focus on hotel man- agement after that." Jaydip tells me that one par- ticular aspect of climate change he cannot shake off is the injus- tice of it. "The world's poorest people are at risk because of the actions of the richest polluters," he says. Despite the clear warning signs from scientists, who have been speaking about climate change for decades, Jaydip believes there still isn't enough aware- ness. To do his part in the fight to change the earth's course, Jay- dip felt the need to come up with something bold. He set his sights on a journey so gruelling it makes bracing rush-hour traf- fic an easy task. He tells me that walking long distances has always been close to his heart. When he used to live in India, Jaydip was a certi- fied trekking instructor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he says that he started a solo back- packing journey to see the real rural India by hitchhiking for 182 days. But what he plans to do now is very different. Jaydip plans to walk 12,000km and cross 20 borders, while con- tributing no emissions to get to India. The only exception is the use of two ferries to leave Malta and Sicily. Apart from that, he will be on his two feet for the next two years. The Climate Walker, as he is called, tells me he is very much inspired by people who man- aged to bring about big change despite their isolation. He men- tions Mahatma Gandhi as a ma- jor source of inspiration, espe- cially given that Gandhi used to live a few kilometres away from where Jaydip grew up. "I speak for the polar bear with no ice. I speak for the farm- er watching his crops fail and for the mother carrying water across cracked land. For the child coughing from smoke- filled air," he says. But before the journey begins, Jaydip faces another uphill bat- tle to secure the funds necessary for such an ambitious trip. Spe- cifically, he needs to save up for visas needed to cross the 20 bor- ders during the trip. His biggest hurdle is the Paki- stani border in light of the tem- sions between his homeland and Pakistan. Jaydip cannot enter Pakistan, which means that he would have to extend his jour- ney in order to travel through China before making it into In- dia. The rest of the funds he needs to cover the basic necessities such as insurance, accommoda- tion, food, and equipment. Luckily for him, he has found support from Maltese NGOs with whom he already has a working relationship. Jaydip tells me that he takes part in clean-up events and spent the last day of 2025 walking across a number of localities in Malta while picking up trash. Looking ahead, Jaydip remains determined to achieve the bold feat he has set himself. "It is re- ally for humanity's sake," he tells me, urging the public to support his fundraising campaign. Jaydip Lakhankiya, the Climate Walker, wants to walk from Malta to his native India to raise awareness on the impact of climate change The long journey starts from Malta, with the only carbon-emitting aspects being two ferry rides from Malta to Sicily and onto mainland Italy In India, Jaydip was a certified trekking instructor and performed a solo backpacking journey to see rural India by hitchhiking for 182 days