Ride Planet Earth

Kim Paul Nguyen is a 27 years old Australian and he is riding planet earth. Well, he is riding his bike “merely” from Brisbane, Australia to Copenhagen, so that would make about half of the globe. Kim’s professional background is in social work, he has been working in the child protection field for the past eight years, interspersed with a lot of traveling, some environmental volunteering and “a few too many hours watching Liverpool miss out on the title again”. He is also a documentary video maker, a cycling enthusiast and an environmentalist.

Even though at the time you are reading this blog post he is cycling somewhere in Europe, Kim had the kindness to answer 2C a few questions just to unveil the reasons that lie at the root of such a crazy and beautiful two-wheeled enterprise.

1. Did you get a lot of brotherly support from environmental NGOs in the countries that you've crossed?

I have received a lot of support from NGOs and more and more as I get closer and closer to Copenhagen. It started off with mainly Friends of the Earth Australia but over the course of the journey I've worked closely with Greenpeace, WWF and other local orgs. Its been brilliant really, learning about the work they are doing and receiving help with accommodation, good company and promoting the message of stopping climate change.

2. What about simple people? How did they react to your initiative?

Well, I wouldn't call them simple people but most of the people I've met and seen live in isolated parts of Asia, and they are usually farmers of some kind, or living and working in small villages. They have responded in all kinds of ways, with enthusiasm and excitement, shock and bewilderment, and very rarely aggression. But most people have been very supportive and I have been fortunate to have received amazing hospitality from people everywhere I've been. A place to stay, food, a friendly smile. But the language barrier has made it hard to discuss climate change. When I have had an interpreter with me the people have openly talked about the changing climate and its impacts but have often been unaware of the political process going on at meeting such as the COP15, and how they might effect them.

3. Did cyclists' communities express their solidarity? In what ways?

Yeah, cyclists have been great. I've cycled with a number of local people and meet many cyclists and they have been wonderful. Local cycling groups are arranging many of the Ride Planet Earth events on 6th Dec. They are often most interested in the details of my experiences. I am trying to help bring the cycling and environmental groups together and so far this has been working well. They have been working with me to publicise Ride Planet Earth which has climate change as its main focus.

4. Were the roads friendly with you and your crew? Could you rank the regions function of "friendliness towards cyclists"?

I am very used to crazy drivers, narrow roads and dicing with death cycling through Beijing, Jakarta or Istanbul. I always feel pretty safe on the road, although I probably shouldn't. Only a few times have cars driven close and caused me any trouble. These incidences have been in Australia and Europe, in Asia drivers expect something crazy to happen when they are driving so they drive slowly and generally dodge you.

5. Does your message have to get across governments or companies as well?

Of course the message needs to be heard by everyone. For change to come at the speed is needs to in order to avoid the worse of dangerous climate change government and industry must be involved and proactive. I think ordinary people can change their behaviour, this is a necessity, but part of that change must be to engage with their governments to make protection of our planet a priority. Even if business only listens to money they will have to change if they buyers decisions change and our governments pass laws that will regulate the carbon they can produce. It is all connected.

6. Is there a political conviction beyond your initiative? Do you also pledge for green jobs or against our evil consumerist behaviours?

I can't say I really understand this question. Yes, I have a strong political conviction behind this project, my actions, and the actions I am encouraging in others. I can't pledge for green jobs but I think this is the way forward, the green revolution. If government subsidises renewable energy and green jobs instead of subsidising fossil fuel production and consumption it will have positive environmental, social and economic impacts.

I think that sustainable development must be based on a reduction in the current levels of consumption. With climate change we consumers are the problem. When we start consuming less, and consuming smarter our planet will be safer.

7. Why do you think that a climate deal in Copenhagen this year is essential to combat runaway climate change?

The timeliness of the COP15 is why it is so important. The next 10 years will determine what path humanity takes. The one that will lead us to environmental and eventual social devastation, or the one that will lead to a healthy planet and a healthy society for future generations. We can't put it off any longer. It starts in Copenhagen. If we don't take action before 2020 the level of carbon in the atmosphere will be high enough to bring devastating effects to communities all over the planet.

8. Even though you are not going to cross the United Stated of America, probably you do know that the Climate Bill is debated in the Senate and its targets of CO2 emissions reduction are pretty weak. What would you say to the US senators? What would you say to President Obama, given that, most probably, there will be no U.S. Climate Bill before COP15?

I would say that we are all connected. Everything is connected. To act now is to improve our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren. To look after the planet is to look after ourselves. The health of our planet is worth more than all the money in the world, it will bring happiness and safety and long life to us where money never could. Don't follow the money, follow your hearts and minds. We must act now before its too late and ensure that we stop polluting the atmosphere and start looking after our earth. Our children, our grandchildren, and their children will look back on how we took action when we needed to, how we overcame the greatest challenge of our own insatiable greed, and did something truly noble, preserved our beautiful world for them.

9. What is a bicycle? Is it just sports equipment? Is it leisure? Or is it a serious alternative, at least for urban transport.

I think it is clearly one of the most important sustainable, environmentally friendly, travel and transport options. We need to be looking for alternatives to fossil fuel based transport, oil driven, especially when it is unnecessary. The bicycle is one of the big options that we need to encourage, partly by building better infrastructure for cyclists. But it isn't just bikes, walking, taking public transport, skating, blading, all these forms of travel are preferred to driving a car alone. A bike can be used for recreation, or transport, or for both. whichever way bikes should be promoted for improving health, saving you money and saving the planet from unnecessary pollution.

10. Were the cities that you've already been through open to bicycle transport (bicycle lanes, racks etc.)?

Actually, unfortunately, very few were. I do think you can cycle in any city, and you usually be quicker on a bike, but only a few that I've seen have specific cycling lanes. It seems that places with only a small bike culture, like Australia, have less infrastructure for bikes and drivers are ruder. In most places in Asia drivers gave me a lot of space so I felt very safe.

11. What bike are you riding?

It’s a Vivente World Randonneur.

12. Are your preoccupations revolving around other environmental issues or merely climate change?

Again, it’s all connected. I think the important thing is that people need to feel a connection with the planet, and then they'll want to protect it. The environmental abuses that continue, such as deforestation, and pollution, cause local problems as bad or worse than what climate change does at a planetary scale. But for this project I couldn't focus on every issue, so I chose the one that is the most important, climate change.

13. How do you foresee the world in 2050 if average temperatures will increase with more than 2 degrees Celsius?

There will be major problems, with droughts, floods, storms, access to water, and climate refugees. I don't think the earth could cope and there would not be enough resources for everyone.

14. How's Eastern Europe so far?

Great. nearly everyone has been really happy to see us. In the cities we've connected with local people a lot, we've traveled with a Bulgarian man, a Romanian woman and a Serbian guy. I hope to come back to Romania next year, beautiful land, beautiful people.