Hundreds of cyclists join ride for climate justice, bigger climate financing
MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of Filipino cyclists on Sunday joined the Pedal for People and Planet ride in Quezon City as parallel rides were held in other parts of the Philippines and the world to call on industrialized countries to take action on climate change that threatens vulnerable, less wealthy ones.
Similar climate action rides were held in Agusan Del Norte, Batangas, Bulacan, Cagayan de Oro City, Camarines Norte, Cebu, Davao City, Leyte, Negros Occidental, Rizal and Zamboanga City, organizers said. Counting participants of rides in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Vietnam, more than 6,000 joined the protest, they also said.
"We need real solutions to the climate crisis. Rich countries have to do their fair share of global climate action. This means delivering on their fair share towards reaching zero global emissions and fulfilling their obligations to provide climate finance," Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development, said in a statement on the ride.
The Asia-wide bike protest on Sunday was the seventh since 2021 and was meant to create awareness on the climate crisis and to mobilize citizens to pressure corporations and governments to take climate action.
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The Philippines is among the countries considered most vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, which includes droughts as well as extreme weather events like supertyphoons. According to UNICEF, children in the Philippines are among the most at risk and face "overlappings" threats from the effects of climate change.
"It is the rich, industrialized countries that are responsible for the bulk of historical and continuing emissions that cause global warming and climate change. Their promises and action plans remain short of what they must do to arrest global warming and prevent climate catastrophe," Nacpil also said.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change stresses the need for developed countries to provide climate finance to more vulnerable countris in recognition of how industrialized economies have contributed the most emissions and are the most responsible for climate change.
Climate finance can be used for adaptation, resilience and emissions reduction measures in developing countries like the Philippines. Avishek Shrestra, Climate Justice program lead of Digo Bikas Institute Nepal, said in the same release that climate finance can also be used to help with the transition to renewable energy from fossil fuels.
"Scaled up, new and additional climate finance is needed now to save people and the planet. We are seeing more and more climate-related death and destruction. This climate finance is not aid or assistance, but part of reparations," Shrestra said.
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