Source::AP news
Swedish cyclist pedaled thousands of miles from Sweden to Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to deliver a simple message: Stop climate change.
The trip took 72-year-old activist Dorothee Hildebrandt and her pink e-bike, which she fondly calls Miss Piggy, after the temperamental character from The Muppet Show, more than four months. She crisscrossed Europe and the Middle East until she arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh, at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.
Since her arrival a week ago, Hildebrandt and her e-bike have become a fixture at the summit. From a friend’s place where she is staying, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the conference center, she bikes to the COP27 venue every day, meeting other activists and attending events.
Past climate talks have traditionally seen very large protests at the end of the first week of the two-week summit, often drawing thousands. This year has been mostly muted, with sporadic and small demonstrations during the first week. Activists have blamed the high cost of travel, accommodation, and restrictions in the isolated Egyptian city for limiting the number of demonstrators.
Starting out on July 1, Hildebrandt cycled through 17 countries, covering 8,228 kilometers (5,112 miles), averaging about 80 kilometers (49 miles) a day. Her Facebook posts got thousands of views and she says she received positive feedback both from followers and people she met along the way.
COP27 has turned a spotlight on a yearslong crackdown on dissent in Egypt, where most public protests are effectively banned by authorities. After the summit ends on Nov. 18, Hildebrandt will bike to Cairo, then on to the Mediterranean city of Alexandria before going to Israel’s port of Haifa and from there, on to Greece.
“In my hometown of Katrineholm, 150 kilometers (93 miles) southwest of Stockholm, the Swedish capital, I founded “GrandmasForFuture - Katrineholm” in the town. The group focuses on raising awareness on climate change among other things. I also want Western industrialized nations to pay for the destruction they have caused so far an issue called loss and damage, about reparations from big polluters to the global south that have been hurt the most,” said Hildebrandt._AP news
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