Davao City bikers join 15-Km “Pedal for People and Planet”

The event dubbed “Pedal for People and Planet” was conducted to celebrate World Environment Day.

The route of the 15-km bike ride which started from Freedom Park to Lanang aims to raise awareness of climate change's worsening impacts and pressure upcoming governments and big corporations to take urgent, bold, ambitious, just, and equitable climate solutions.  

In its report, Rara Ada of Philippine Movement for Climate Justice has called on governments and corporations to address the climate crisis urgently. 

“With the worsening climate, millions of people will be severely affected by flooding, droughts, heatwaves, and other extreme weather events. As climate change is one of the defined issue of the upcoming administration, it is high time to finally put their priority focus on policies and programs that will ensure environmental sustainability and protection,” Ada said. 

The participants of the ride also highlighted and called for an urgent resolution to several issues in Davao City and Mindanao. Among these is the hasty approval of several open-pit mining in Mindanao, including the controversial Tampakan Mining Project and the Mining in Brgy. Macambol, Mati. 

Other issues include the investment in more renewable sources of energy,

rejecting WTE incineration, increasing green spaces in the city, watershed protection, saving heritage trees, and protection of urban wetlands.

Lawyer Mark Peñalver of Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) is also urging a new set of leaders, corporations, and the people to heed the call of the environment. 

“I believe that by working together, we can build a more equitable society that benefits people, the economy, and the environment. We have the opportunity to invest in nature-based solutions that can aid in the mitigation of climate change and make our communities and ecosystems more resilient to its effects,” he said.

The activity was the second Pedal for People and Planet event in Davao City were 40 bikers joined last April 24. 

The event was considered the biggest delegation so far of bike rides conducted by the Sustainable Davao Movement and its partner organizations in Davao City.