You can help fight climate change in many ways. The simplest is to start to think about how your actions impact on the world around you and start to act accordingly. You can do this every time you use electricity at home or at work, every time you make a purchase and every time you decide on where and how to travel.
Participate in Ride Planet Earth
Date: 6th December 2009
Time: Anytime during the day
Place: Around the World, any highways, streets and dirt tracks where people can cycle.
Summary:
The Ride Planet Earth Project culminates in a series of cycling events happening around the world on 6th Dec 09. This is the day before the UN Climate Change negotiations begin in Copenhagen.
The aim of the event is three-fold: (1) Raising awareness about the current and future impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities around the world, highlighting the need to take immediate action. (2) Demonstrating the capacity and willingness of ordinary people to take action against dangerous climate change, action such as using carbon-neutral transport. (3) Urging the world’s governments meeting in Copenhagen to take the necessary action on their part. Agree to reduce carbon emissions to safe levels, agree on the means to do so and agree to start doing so immediately.
This includes the governments of developed countries to fulfil their international obligations, take responsibility for their historic and current greenhouse emissions by reducing emissions immediately and making domestic emission reduction targets of at least 40% by 2020.
Also, to assist countries in the developing world to adapt to climate change impacts, reduce their greenhouse emissions and finance low-carbon technology, enabling them to develop in an ecologically and socially sustainable way.
Details:
Wherever an individual or organisation is willing and capable to organise a cycling event we urge them to join Ride Planet Earth and do so. They simply need to email kim@rideplanetearth.org and we can start promoting their event as part of this global event.
We ask of the coordinators to choose a route, a distance, invite people to participate and then publicise the event locally and domestically.
We ask that during the event each participant record a message to be sent to their governments and to the Climate Change negotiations at COP15, explaining why we need to do something about climate change, and what they will be doing personally. We ask that these messages be uploaded to YouTube under “Ride Planet Earth Messages” and we will get them heard during the COP15. Please also include the location when you upload (eg. “Ride Planet Earth Messages: Sydney” or “Ride Planet Earth Messages: Dar Es Salaam”). If you cannot video them please write them down and email them to the project manager at “kim”, “@”, “rideplanetearth.org” and we will get them heard at COP15.
We ask that the event be documented on video or with photos and the footage or photos be available to further promote the message of the Ride Planet Earth project and be part of the film “Chasing the Sun: Changing the World”.
So far we have events in cities, towns and villages across the globe.
Details of each event will be listed on this website. Contact details of each Ride Coordinator will also be listed. Details can also be found at the Ride Planet Earth Challenge group on facebook.
The Ride Planet Earth Challenge
You can also help by participating in the Ride Planet Earth Challenge. Kim is cycling to Copenhagen, a 20 000 kilometre journey, demonstrating our ability to travel without harming the environment around us. He urges you to look at your own travel and start making environmentally friendly changes, reducing the amount of travel by car and increasing the amount you walk, cycle or use public transport. If you have a solar powered car then all the better for you.
We challenge you to ensure that for every 1000 km Kim cycles at least 100 km of your own travel is environmentally friendly. This equates to approximately 25km of environmentally sustainable travel and transport every week.
Register for the Challenge by filling out the form below and your name will shortly be published on the website.
The Ride Planet Earth Petition
Sign the online petition to be delivered at the 2009 UN Climate Change Negotiations in Copenhagen.
The following is our petition statement, written in conjunction with Climate Justice campaigners from Friends of the Earth:
Developed countries must act on climate change now, taking responsibility for their historic and current greenhouse emissions, by making domestic emission reduction targets of at least 40% by 2020.
This action also includes assisting countries in the developing world to adapt to climate change impacts, reduce their greenhouse emissions and finance low-carbon technology, enabling them to develop in an ecologically and socially sustainable way.
We encourage developing countries to take national actions towards sustainable societies and call for the nations of the developed world to fulfil their international obligations to reduce emissions immediately.
Please go to Petition Planet Earth
Below see the Climate messages recorded at the Ride Planet Earth launch in Sydney on 31 July 2008;