Gerd Steiner, a retired pediatrician and cycling enthusiast, arrived this week at Berlin’s iconic Brandenberg Gate to umbrellas, high winds and climate songs from German musician Bernadette La Hengst and her Chor der Statistik.
Flanked by cyclists from the Berlin-based Respect Cyclists, Gerd was bringing a banner from Hamburg that over the coming months will travel across Europe ending in Antalya Turkey.
Berlin based cyclists welcome the annual #COPBikeRide at the Brandenburg Gate and its first leg flag bearer Gerd Steiner: Video credit We Don’t Have Time
The banner had arrived in Hamburg on sailing ship Avontuur from Belem, Brazil. Belem hosted last year’s UN climate conference, where We Don’t Have Time had met up and interviewed the French, Kenyan and Brazilian members of the COP30 Bike Ride.
Joining the welcoming committee in Berlin was Jolein Schorel, one of the organizers of the ride and a sustainability expert based in Utrecht, Netherlands.
“We are connecting with the rest of the world and with those who want cycling to be recognized as among the key climate solutions. And we are all bringing this message to leaders attending the next COP, co-hosted in November by Turkey and Australia,” she said.
Ms Schorel urged cyclists, environmentalists and citizens living along the routes leading to Cop31 to join the rides and get involved.
Meanwhile, other guests at the Brandenburg Gate included Bernadette La Hengst, a German pop music composer and singer, who has penned several climate related songs including I’m an Island which was the official opening cultural moment at COP23 held in Bonn where the government of Fiji presided.
She and members of the Berlin-based Chor der Statistik performed two other of La Hengst’s songs—I Need Air and Save the World (with this Melody) written for the Save the World Festival.
The COP31 Bike Ride, that in Europe has starting points including from Lisbon, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, London, Bilbao and Pointe Du Raz and as well as Hamburg, is not just about the joy of cycling.
But also, about changing government policies on cycling. Along the route to COP31, the ride team are promoting ten proposals to “leverage cycling for climate protection”.
Despite evidence that a “realistic shift to walking/cycling/public transport could lead to 50% reduction in transport emissions” only 25 per cent of nations have included cycling and walking in their national climate action plans (NDCs) under the landmark Paris Climate Agreement.
The ten proposals to leaders include: –
- Complete a basic structural network of bike lanes until 2030, especially with inter-town and multimodal connectivity for daily journeys. If the base is already in place, make it ambitious!
- Design dedicated plans going to 2030 and covering all the possible leverages to develop cycling (with appropriate, dedicated funding and implementation reviews that include the bike associations)
Mr Steiner, the flag bearer from Hamburg, told Nick Nuttall of We Don’t Have Time, some of the issues that had motivated him to do the 560km journey.
“Through my actions I want to set an example of how a life without heavy resource consumption can still be fulfilling. This includes eating a vegetarian or vegan diet, swapping second-hand clothes and books and avoiding driving a car whenever possible and no flying,” he said.
Mr Steiner, who comes from Westerrönfeld, near Rendsburg and in his spare time volunteers to support migrants, summed up his perspectives with the motto: „Ride slower and change” plus “peace in the world or the world in pieces”.
Sibylle Grunze, who with fellow Respect Cyclists Volker Mai also assisted with We Don’t Have Time’s filming of the event, said of the COP31 Bike Ride:” It is great to be able to focus on climate and the change we need in cities. In Berlin, we are experiencing a huge back roll in cycling policies. Bike paths are being taken away, trees are being felled and you wonder guys, what century are you living in”.
Asked what message she might have for world leaders including Germany’s Chancellor Merz, the film maker and science communicator, added to the applause of all present: “Wake up and come to the new century with us”.
