Empower Young Climate Activists in Vietnam

Dear lovely supporters,

While we are enthusiastically raising funds and planning for the upcoming cycle of "Vietnam Climate Leadership Camp" to produce another batch of climate leaders, our honed campers are thriving and scaling up their projects to increase the impacts on local climate issues.

"The Green River", with a mission to free rivers in Vietnam from plastic pollution, picked Hoi An to be the next project site. Ranking amongst the best 15 travel destinations of Asia, Hoi An attracts 5 million domestic and international visitors each year, which means to shoulder an enormous volume of discharged rubbish. Green River has calculated the river flows, surveyed the daily habits of the locals as well as carried out systematic monitoring to draw up a detailed implementation plan here. The team is about to construct the 2nd generation of the aquatic rubbish collector and expect the machine starts operating in Hoi An this April.

Another project named "EcoFish" has been set up in 6 provinces and cities starting from last April. It utilizes a bamboo whale model which feeds on rubbish to raise awareness of the detrimental influences of leaked plastic disposables on sea creatures. The project has created a huge impact and been well received by the masses of students. It even made it to the top 10 out of 150 booths displaying community initiatives at The International Exhibition of Community Initiatives in Vietnam 2021 and received a certificate of merit from the Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC).

We are so proud of these "unearthed and nurtured" youth leaders who are fuelled by fiery passion within and leaving lasting positive impacts. We also believe many young people out there are incubating initiatives for a better environment. What we need to do is to discover and give these youngsters a nudge to realize their idea and we can not do that without your support. So please continue helping sustain our "Vietnam Climate Leadership Camp" for a bigger impact!

After having gone through 3 phases of vigorous training, 5 teams were selected to be granted a humble amount of funds to put their concepts into practice. 5 projects are 5 different approaches, different locations, and different beneficiaries, yet they all contribute to the same big picture: fighting climate change. We are really pleased to see and tell you the impacts that they are creating.

Much waste in Vietnam is disposed of by incinerating, discharging a large number of greenhouse gases and causing the atmosphere to trap more and more heat. In rural areas, there are days the sky turns leaden due to farmers burning bales of straw to ashes to get rid of them. A big bulk of waste like plastic disposables, worn-out backpacks shares the same fate in urban settings. Our campers tried to get to the roots of the matter and find a way round these problems. Some resorted to emerging technology for gathering and cleaning up plastic rubbish on the river. Some attempted at activities to increase awareness among stakeholders, help them grasp the repercussion and, eventually, change their behaviours towards sustainable practices. No matter what they do, they are fighting valiantly to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure the habitability of the Earth.

A big thank to all your generous supporters who have joined us in your own way to address climate change and sowed the seeds of future climate leaders! We will keep you posted about them as they grow.