Media Release
Mangaluru, Nov 7: Just as COP27, the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) kickstarts in Egypt on November 6, Karavali Karnataka Janabhivriddhi Vedike (KKJV) initiated an awareness action in Mangaluru the same morning to highlight the gravity of the climate crisis and the urgency of undertaking bold, ambitious, just and equitable climate solutions in the interest of our planet and people. This was part of a series of coordinated bike actions in several cities and countries in Asia led by the Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD). Mangaluru's cycle rally was flagged off by Dr Praveen Martis SJ, principal of St Aloysius College and Dr Smitha Hegde, professor at Nitte University, Centre for Science Education and Research. The bike action started from St Aloysius College (autonomous), and wound their way along the city's main arterial roads via the Hampankatta signal, PVS, Lalbagh, Bejai and culminated at Kadri park.
The flag off event started with a brief introduction on the theme of the awareness rally: Reparations for the Climate Crisis by Ananya B A, one of the organizers. Dr Praveen Martis SJ spoke on the same saying, we are a part of a group of enlightened citizens and we would like to strive for climate justice. All of us should really take part in it, bring others onboard and also fight for it as its our right as also our future generations, he added. Dr Smitha Hegde encouraged the participants by saying, the actual secret is in youth led 'self-start', the power is in you, you can definitely make the change. With this Dr Praveen Martis SJ along with K Shashidhara Hegde, who has cycled to work and back 8 kms for four and a half years, flagged off the bike action.
The band of cyclists made their way up the steep climb to Kadri Hills and arrived at the finish point within Kadri Park with citizens welcoming the cyclists with cheers and claps for their effort. After refreshments, the event at the finish line commenced with another young organizer, Sandipa Nath, giving a warm welcome to all the participants and briefing them about the event’s agenda. The chief guest, Dr Smitha Hegde, then delivered a talk on the damage to climate and ecosystems because of temperature rise. Dr Hegde urged the participants to do their part in taking actions protecting the climate, quoting to pay 'Prithvi Runna' our debt to mother earth, before we all leave the earth. Following which social activist Vidya Dinker, voiced out the objective of the cycle ride, that is, youth asserting reparations for climate action from those who bear larger responsibilities for the climate crisis and that our pressure must be exerted at all levels holding authorities accountable from local to the international, citing the instance of hazardous fossil fuels industries expanding in Mangalore
These coordinated bike actions which are being held in several cities in countries across Asia, will contribute significantly towards exerting citizens’ pressure on governments, institutions and corporations, to undertake decisive, urgent, just actions to bring people and planet back from the brink of climate catastrophe.