Manifesto for Paris
Hello all.
We apologise for the delay in communications over the last couple of days. As you can imagine there is a lot to think about right now. Firstly we'd like to express our sympathies to the friends and families of the victims of the attacks in Paris, Beirut, Palestine and elsewhere around the world.
We are now more determined than ever to take a stand and we will be biking to Paris for COP21. Our driving force is the urgency that is climate justice and our commitment to democratic processes. We will uphold our right for our voices to be heard in the climate negotiations which will affect every living being on the planet. The plane loads of lobbyists with vested interests in climate destruction will not be deterred and neither will we. We will not let terrorists or the French authorities take away our democratic right to peaceful protest.
We are the change we want to see!
We are in contact with Coalition Climat21, Friends of the Earth and Alternatiba and we're thinking about how we'll be involved in protests now that the mass demos we had anticipated have been banned. We are heartened to hear that FOE and other groups are still planning protest activities in Paris - the change is that these will be decentralised rather than being the mass rallies we were expecting. Our plan now is to join (or create!) some of these decentralised actions, and we will meet that challenge with the resilience and hope that is at the core of our ambitions for a better world. We cannot speculate on how the authorities will conduct themselves but will do our best to share as much information on the mobilisations taking place in Paris, before and during the ride.
With the eyes of the world on Paris for the COP21 climate negotiations we have an opportunity and a responsibility to send a powerful message through our actions. We are honoured to join the people of Paris in calling for peace at all levels: in our communities, between countries and people of different faiths, and in building a sustainable future for all.
Cycling to Paris for climate justice, democracy, and - now more than ever - for peace
Time to Cycle!
