Kyle Patrick Camilleri
Sunday, 7 December 2025, 09:00
Last update: about 23 hours ago
This coming January, a young Indian man named Jaydip Lakhankiya, dubbed the “Climate Walker”, will begin a 12,000km walk from Malta to New Delhi, India, passing through 20 countries over around a year-and-a-half to raise awareness on climate change.
The 25-year-old will first make his way from Malta to Sicily and then mainland Europe via Italy, before passing through, in order, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and Pakistan before crossing the border into his homeland and heading towards New Delhi.
Apart from two ferries he must catch to travel to Sicily and then mainland Italy, Lakhankiya told The Malta Independent on Sunday that has no intention to use any means of private or public transport during his journey. He will aim to complete this long journey on foot, noting that the transport sector is one of the world’s largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. A single packed flight from Malta to India can be responsible for around 320,000kg of carbon dioxide; a voyage by ship equal to around 360,000kg of CO2.
He aims to emit zero carbon emissions during his transcontinental trek over the next year-and-a-half.
This journey is not about getting from A to B quickly, but about educating the masses about climate change. Hence, he is opposed to cycling for more than rare stints, arguing that he can reach more people by walking 30-40km daily.
Because of this insistence to walk, he is going to trek across the full length of Italy before heading East through the Balkans, instead of more conveniently catching a ship from southern Italy to Albania or taking any other shortcuts. He will then journey across the Middle East, traverse India’s neighbouring and geopolitical rival, Pakistan, and conclude his transcontinental walk in the capital of his densely-populated homeland. “By walking, I emit nothing – proving that movement doesn’t have to harm the planet,” Lakhankiya said.
He will go on this journey alone with a backpack filled with clothes and essentials, a first aid kit, and a tent to camp out on most nights. He estimates to arrive at the Indian capital at around the start of summer 2027, give or take a month.
Lakhankiya has already set aside a fund for food and water. He’s budgeted that his trip should cost him between €25,000 to €30,000 in total. He will be saving money on accommodation throughout his journey setting up camp when it is time to rest. He aims to go to a hostel or a hotel once a week to get the opportunity to freshen up more comfortably and wash his clothes. He is also open to couch-surfing on some occasions, he said.
The Climate Walker told this newsroom that several people have already called him crazy for deciding to take up this challenge in the name of climate change awareness, though these comments have not budged his determination to do this, and do this alone.
He is beginning his journey from Malta, where he is currently based. He initially came to the Maltese islands in July 2024 to pursue a postgraduate diploma in Hospitality, Travel and Tourism at the IDEA College in Mosta, which he attained earlier this year. He chose to study in Malta due to the country’s blooming tourism and because of his love for travelling.
Jaydip is from Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. He was initially studying chartered accounting back in India before he decided to drop out of this line and embrace his passion for travelling. He later attained a bachelor’s degree in Tourism Studies before joining India’s largest trekking organisation as a trekking instructor, through which he traversed plenty of Indian lands.
During the heights of the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2021, Lakhankiya made the most out of the world’s slowing down at the time and embraced his urge to explore his home country. At 21 years old, he walked and hitchhiked around India for six months (182 days).
Today, Lakhankiya is a certified trekking instructor, mountaineer, kayaking instructor, paragliding instructor, and lifeguard. All his degrees revolve around travel and adventure, he said. He believes that his skills and experiences are enough for him to get by alone over this upcoming 12,000km crossing.
After informing himself on this subject at his young age, he has decided to dedicate his life towards the climate change cause.
He is using this walk to raise awareness that climate change remains “the biggest threat to Earth” in hopes that his act may inspire the serious change still needed to mitigate climate change’s effects.
2024 was the warmest year on record and according to the United Nations, the world is set to fall short of its 2030 emissions targets. Global greenhouse gas emissions are forecasted to reduce by just 2.6% till then, instead of the targeted 43%. This bodes negatively for net zero ambitions for 2050.
Till he begins this mammoth journey to the other side of the world on foot, Lakhankiya is trying to secure most of the visas he needs for this challenge. He has already planned out most of his trip, though is finalising his long trip in further detail to ensure that he is in accordance with migration requirements.
During this interview, the Indian youth said that he has already calculated the approximate walking distance he must cover through each country and how long it should take him to cross over to the next border. He forecasts his crossing over through Iran to take up most of his time: 2,330 kilometres over an estimated 117 days. In contrast, besides the single day he needs to leave Malta to begin this journey, he plans on spending not more than around a week to pass through Croatia, Kosovo, and Montenegro respectively.
With climate change awareness being the scope of this transcontinental trek, Lakhankiya aims to pass through the capital cities of almost every country he visits. In each country, he will contact local eNGOs and media houses to collaborate with and help maximise the reach for his cause in hopes that his story can go global.
He stressed that he is seeking coverage on his 12,000-kilometre walk so that he can have more platforms to discuss the global threat that is climate change. He made clear during this interview that this is the sole motivation behind his gutsy decision to walk back to his homeland from Malta – and not to become famous.
He said that his biggest obstacle is to enter and cross through Pakistan; Pakistan is the penultimate country in his journey as the final country to go through before entering the final stretch in India. The tense relationship between the two major Asian nations came close to boiling over several times in 2025. Resultantly, Lakhankiya’s biggest worry is to attain a special visa by Pakistani authorities to allow him the opportunity to conclude his journey without any undesired major detours, which he reckons may be difficult considering his Indian nationality.
However, Lakhankiya was in good spirits when discussing this – determined that he won’t have visa trouble after exploring his options.
At the end of his walk, the Climate Walker will return back home to his hometown of Bhavnagar in Gujarat, India. Only then will he consider cycling or travelling by train, he said. Afterwards, he hopes to start something meaningful to continue promoting the climate change cause, such as founding his own NGO or going to schools, colleges, and universities as a speaker.
Lakhankiya will soon begin crowdfunding to help fund his trip. He noted that given that most carbon emissions are being emitted by large companies, he feels that it would be irresponsible to his cause to accept donations or sponsorships from big companies, since he is indirectly opposing them. Hence, he will be relying heavily on the charity of the masses to determine his level of comfort across this estimated 18-month journey.
During his journey, he will be posting online daily with updates and to educate on climate change, collaborating with activists, NGOs, and media houses, and asking people to take action to safeguard natural environments. He plans for some of this content to include how climate change is affecting people from the countries he will be visiting.
People can follow his socials on @the.climate.walker