News item | 17-11-2022 | 08:30
Train and deploy 10,000 cycling experts in countries around the world. To this end, State Secretary Heijnen is starting a collaboration with various social institutions and governments at the climate summit in Egypt today. Many countries currently lack the knowledge and expertise to build safe and comfortable cycling infrastructure. While that is good for the climate and quality of life. The first training for cycling experts is expected to start next year.
Educate
The Dutch Cycling Embassy, a Dutch organization to promote bicycle use worldwide, and the Transport Decarbonisation Alliance, a public-private partnership to make transport more sustainable, will jointly shape the training programs in developing countries. They are collaborating with UNEP, the environmental arm of the United Nations, which has a great deal of experience with similar projects in Africa. In concrete terms, this concerns, for example, traffic experts and planners, who learn how cycling incentives work and how infrastructure can contribute to a safe and good place for cyclists in cities. That has many advantages. For the climate, space in the city, health and clean air. Moreover, cycling and cycling infrastructure is relatively cheap. The start-up costs of 150,000 euros for the training program are paid by State Secretary Heijnen. The ultimate goal is to train 40 classes with 25 participants in 10 regions worldwide, so that the 10,000 is reached. It should be ready in 2033.
Heijnen: “We are lucky in the Netherlands. We have known the benefits of cycling for many years and we have the knowledge and money to invest in good cycle paths and bicycle parking facilities. I wish other countries and our climate the same. That is why we are making these agreements today. Here at the climate summit, I call on governments, banks and development organizations to co-invest in the bicycle”.
One of the cities that has already invested a lot in cycling knowledge is Qelimane, in Mozambique. Mayor Manuel de Araujo: “Quelimane has only become the cycling city it is today thanks to the accumulated knowledge about behavioral change and building roads for cycling and walking. Education and training are crucial to build safe, high-quality infrastructure for active mobility. Therefore, I sincerely hope that more countries and financial institutions will support this initiative.”
The World Bank also sees the importance of investing in cycling infrastructure. Transport director Nicolas Peltier-Thiberge: “The World Bank is committed to making transport more sustainable and investing in bicycles and pedestrians is a crucial element of this transition.”
Cycle on the climate summit COP27
It is the first time that the bicycle has played such a major role at a climate summit. The new agreements will be signed today at a cycling event organized by the Netherlands. That meeting is about making international financing available for cycling infrastructure through development banks and in climate finance. Particularly for developing countries where that money is not always available. The need for transport in many developing countries is increasing rapidly and it has many advantages to look directly at the bicycle. The World Bank, the World Resources Institute, the European Cyclists’ Federation, UNEP and numerous cities, including Utrecht, are participating in the Dutch event.
In the Netherlands, too, there is a lot of attention for the importance of the bicycle. In the Netherlands, State Secretary Heijnen announced investments worth 780 million euros last Monday in cycle routes, bicycle parking facilities and bicycle tunnels and bridges.