Journeys for Climate Justice (JCJ) is a small volunteer-run Australian not-for-profit organisation tackling climate change issues in the Asia-Pacific Region. We aim to address the inequitable impacts of climate change, which fall on communities that have contributed least to the problem and have few resources to cope. As an alternative to carbon offsetting, JCJ offers travellers the opportunity to fund projects that are catalysts for behavioural change in the Asia-Pacific.
Since its very first project, JCJ has provided financial and logistical support to ECO-V, a Sri Lankan environmental NGO, to run many Journeys. The first was the ‘Kelani River Journey’. This exciting initiative saw a team of 21 Sri Lankan youth embark on a 12 day journey down the Kelani River. The youth were trained to be environmental leaders, and engaged with local communities to promote sustainable lifestyles and raise climate change awareness. The Journey was hailed as “the most successful and longest ever environmental education campaign ever run in Sri Lanka” and received national support and attention. This Journey, and those since, have had amazing ripple effects, building national momentum for climate change action, and the youth have since returned to their local communities to initiate their own climate change and environmental projects.
Watch the YouTube video of this first Journey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfcefmB9OkI
As well as supporting ongoing national-level climate change projects in Sri Lanka, JCJ has diversified into the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, where it ran a project in April/May 2012. The Mekong Climate Action Project raised awareness of the impacts of climate change upon the highly vulnerable Mekong Delta, and promoted appropriate response measures. Strong networks were forged, and JCJ left a lasting contribution to efforts for climate change action in the Mekong. This has paved the way for future projects in the Mekong.
If you are interested in what we do, please consider making a donation, becoming a member or joining us as a volunteer.
You can find more information on our website: http://www.journeysforclimatejustice.org.au/