Beginning symbolically in Paris in June 2024, our European cycling group plans to cover 6 500 kilometers, traversing France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria,Turkey, and Georgia before reaching, towards the beginning of November, Baku in Azerbaijan, the host city for COP29. With this, we want to highlight the gap betwen the commitments of the last COPs and the Paris agreement as well as convey to the COP29 10 concrete proposals to leverage cycling as a means to reduce the global carbon emissions.
A few weeks after the launch, more than forty persons from various countries (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Slovenia, Serbia, etc...) have confirmed their participation, and there will probably be around a hundred of us by the departure date. Participants have the flexibility to engage in the entire journey or choose segments based on their physical capabilities, availability, and aspirations. Whether you are interested in joining for a day, a week, or a month, regardless of your country of residence, you are welcome to be part of the expedition! We will be making stops at prearranged key cities on specific dates, allowing participants to plan their involvement in advance. There,we will conduct various activities such as press conferences, gatherings with local cycling associations, meeting with local public authorities/experts on green mobility, presentations in schools, in order to relay and progressively refine our "10 proposals to leverage cycling for climate protection“ that we will present at the Cop29
All it truly requires is a bicycle, basic camping gear, and a determined spirit to join for a day, a week or more. Our plan is to cover an average of 60 kilometers each day (40km in moutain, 70km on flat land), a distance well within the reach of reasonably sporty and healthy individuals. For the more sporty, we plan longer alternatives during the day so everyone can enjoy their ride. Accommodation will be mainly camping with efforts made to stay with supporters along the route. We'll follow a schedule of riding six days a week, allowing for a day of rest in between to recover. All types of bicycles are welcome, whether standard or electric, with the electric ones carrying provisions and camping equipment for others. If you want to know the exact dates and locations they are 👉 here.
We are seeking a resilient, international, and enthusiastic core team of supporters to spearhead logistics, plan the route, and, last but not least, manage the press to relay our message on biking. Additionally, we welcome sponsors to amplify our media impact and assist in covering various expenses associated with the raid, such as emergency costs, contingencies, and repairs. Any remaining funds will be dedicated to supporting reforest'action
At this stage, the European Cycling Federation, the most representative NGO on the topic of cycling present at COP29, praise our initiative and will introduce us to various cycling associations before and during the COP.
Transport accounts for 30% of CO2 emission worldwide and is the cause of major respiratory health issues in cities. Although many of our daily commutes could be done with bicycles, the percentage of those among the different means of transport is still very low, 11% on average at a European level and much lower in many European cities. Safety, theft are voiced as concerns by many potentials users. Governements have funneled investments to this green means of transportation but far below what would be necessary to massively foster adoption, and thus play a part to reach the goal of the COP21 Paris agreement. Now is a time for change at a much faster pace !
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