In the lead up to COP21 in Paris, the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) and its new international network World Cycling Alliance (WCA) have the mission to demonstrate the importance of cycling on the global climate change agenda. This week I will represent ECF and WCA as partners of SLoCaT at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Lima in order to ensure that cycling is well-promoted on the international scale.

Our first global steps are already having an impact. WCA Board member, Lake Sagaris, is playing an active role in the dedicated Transport Day 2014 at COP20, where the most important transport stakeholders will come together to discuss strategic points for climate change mitigation. ECF & WCA are currently working on a process to deliver to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a voluntary commitment to combat climate change from the cycling sector.

To make our message heard, we work intensively on different interconnected levels and we bring together an unprecedented diversity of networks. Our latest success is a new network of MEPs called Cycling Forum Europe with the commitment to promote cycling in European policies. The inauguration of Cycling Forum Europe was strongly supported by the new European Commissioner on Transport, Violeta Bulc, a true success for active mobility and cycling in particular. The momentum is building.

Why a World Cycling Alliance?

Earlier this year, ECF made a commitment to strengthen the collaboration of cycling advocacy at the global level by launching the World Cycling Alliance (WCA). The WCA unites partners from across the world to make a strong argument: that cycling represents a huge opportunity to both mitigate climate change and invest in sustainable cities. Through WCA, ECF is ensuring that knowledge exchange and best practice transfer is happening on the global scale in forums such as the Velo-city series.

From local to global numbers prove that cycling matters

ECF’s mission, ‘More people cycling more often’, has resonance in many fields, from energy to health and urban planning - and without a doubt in the field of climate change. Not only does more cycling mean a modal shift away from motorised transport; it also makes cities more human. Given these multiple benefits, we need to encourage a modal shift away from fossil-fuel based forms of transport in favour of active mobility and public transport. This shift must happen in addition to encouraging technology changes, or reaching climate change goals won’t be possible. 

To influence policy makers, we couple arguments with hard data. Our 2011 study, ‘Cycling more Often 2 cool down the planet’, showed that if the EU-27 Member States were to cycle as much as Denmark, this could meet up to 26% of the 2050 transport sector targets. Today ECF  published its next big study ‘Cycling Works’, proving that besides reducing emissions, investing in cycling is also good for employment.

The world needs to shift from individual motorized transport to active mobility in order to mitigate climate change and economize on the global energy budget. Cycling is at the epicenter of changing cities into living, sustainable organisms which benefit both the environment and their citizens. 

Dr. Bernhard Ensink, ECF Secretary General