Davao cyclists join ‘Pedal for People’

CITY (MindaNews) -- Environmentalists in Davao City will participate in the nationwide simultaneous “Pedal for People and Climate” on Sunday to reiterate their urgent call to end the use of fossil fuels as more vulnerable countries like the Philippines bear the brunt of climate change.

Rara Ada, area coordinator for Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), told MindaNews on Saturday that around 50 cyclists are expected to participate in the even that will start at 5 a.m. at the Freedom Park along Roxas Avenue, then to MacArthur Highway, Quimpo Boulevard and back to Freedom Park.

She said a similar event has been organized in Quezon City and Cagayan de Oro City.

Organizers intend to shed light on vulnerable countries that suffer from the ill effects of climate change worsened by the green gas emissions of corporations and privileged countries.

She said organizers of the event in the city include Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, 350.org, PMCJ, Greenpeace, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), and

Sustainable Davao Movement (SDM).

Lawyer Mark Peñalver, IDIS executive director said the activity intends to call on cities like Davao to be “carbon neutral,” seeing the need to reduce carbon footprint in light of the climate emergency confronting the world and the environmental challenges including, among others, flooding, sea-level rising,