Bike to Brazil: green transport to UN climate talks

A group of climate activists are cycling and sailing to the world’s largest climate summit, and they’re doing it without stepping on a plane.

Hundreds of riders have traveled across Europe in recent weeks, converging in Portugal, where a group boarded a boat bound for Brazil.

Their destination: the Amazon city of Belem, which hosts the UN COP30 climate talks in November.

Tens of thousands of negotiators, scientists and activists are expected to attend the summit, with governments under pressure to agree stronger measures to protect the Amazon and phase out fossil fuels.

The COP30 Cycling Tour started in Azerbaijan, host of last year’s COP29 summit, and covered nearly 8000 km across Eurasia in 20 weeks.

More than 600 cyclists participated in different parts of the journey.

The second arm of the initiative, with 200 other riders, traveled an additional 1800km across northern Europe, and others cycled through parts of eastern and southern Africa.

“The main message we want to give to world leaders and ordinary people is that cycling should be considered a serious option to reduce carbon emissions from transport,” Dutch organizer Jolein Schorel said.

“It is also healthier, cheaper, more fun and one of the most affordable options for cities to invest in infrastructure.”

Schorel said the project grew from a symbolic ride to COP29 in Baku, where cyclists handed a banner to a Brazilian delegate pledging to reach COP30 in the same way.

The journey sparked interest in the communities they passed through.

In Zambia, schoolchildren listened with wide eyes as riders described how they had cycled thousands of kilometers.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Schorel described what he heard during a morning call from Enock Kitheka, one of the cyclists touring Africa.

“One of the boys only had change and said: ‘I don’t have a lot of money, but I want to support your journey. Maybe just enough for some water.’ “This was very touching,” he said.

For Schorel, the journey was deeply personal.

“For me, it’s really special that so many people around the world collaborated to make this happen,” he said.

“People join by bike, arrange accommodation, contact the municipalities. And they all coordinate this among themselves. This makes the journey very connected, both internationally and locally. And when we arrive in a city we are usually welcomed very warmly.”

After weeks of cycling across Eurasia, they are heading to Brazil instead of flying, underlining their commitment to avoid fossil fuel transportation.

Organizers say their approach aims to reach the “heart, mind and hands” – the heart through the stories of the communities they encounter, the mind through practical policy recommendations, and the hands by completing the journey without burning fossil fuels.

On arrival in Belem, riders from different disciplines will reunite and cycle together to the gateway city of the Amazon.

They plan to present their demands to negotiators as COP30 opens.

“We may be a small group, but our voices and our pedals show that we can still choose a different path,” Schorel said.