Jakarta - B2W Indonesia Holds Cycling Together with G20 Ambassadors

Celebrating World Bicycle Day which falls on Friday (6/3), the Jakarta Government collaborated with Bike to Work (B2W) Indonesia to hold cycling together while having a picnic with the ambassadors of G20 countries. It is also one of the pillar forums of the G20 Presidency pre-agenda, with the joint leadership of Jakarta and West Java Governors for the U20 agenda.

The philosophy of this activity is diplomacy, namely bicycle diplomacy

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, who led and hosted the U20 world mayoral meeting, welcomed the activity. He also participated in cycling activities with the ambassadors of G20 countries in Jakarta.

“Today, on June 3, we commemorate World Bicycle Day with a groundbreaking of Bicycle Lounge in Dukuh Atas. Then we cycled together with the ambassadors and the cyclist community. Jakarta is facing the impact of global warming which one of the causes is massive air pollution. Therefore, we need to work together to reduce environmental problems by taking action at the local level," he said as quoted from Jakarta PPID Press Release, Friday (3/6).

Jakarta Holds Series of Event to Commemorate Environment Day 2022

He asserted that the Government would continuously encourage the culture of cycling, including emission-free vehicles. In fact, bike lanes were made already along 90 kilometers of a total target of 500 kilometers throughout Jakarta.

"We want to reduce the number of pollutants. Besides, we have built and renovated more than 100 parks in Jakarta over the past 4 years. Therefore, more oxygen will be produced for clean air. So, on one hand, it reduces pollution, on the other hand, it increases the air quality," he continued.

He also hoped that Jakarta could become a healthier and more environmentally friendly city. Therefore, the cycling activity with the ambassadors of the G20 countries was a part of the four main issues included in the theme for the presidency, namely sustainable energy transition.

"It is important to include the issue of environmentally friendly transportation in this theme because discussions about efforts to overcome the impact of global warming and climate crisis have been echoed and urged in various global forums," he uttered.

For information, at the grand conference on climate in Glasgow last November, for example, more than 300 civil society organizations around the world openly wrote to the governments of participating countries. In March, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) passed a resolution calling for the integration of the use of bicycles into the transportation system.

As a collaborator, B2W Indonesia designed the cycling activity like a trip for having a picnic in the park, namely Lapangan Banteng. It was organized as a small party in the morning. While enjoying light snacks and small talk with others, the participants were also entertained by traditional music.

"The philosophy of this activity is diplomacy, namely bicycle diplomacy. Apart from hospitality, as the host of the Indonesian G20 Presidency as well as the chairman of the U20, through this activity, we want to show Jakarta's efforts in accommodating the use of bicycles for mobility. While indirectly, inviting participants to convey the issue of bicycles as a solution in transportation and energy sectors to the parties involved in discussions at the G20 forum," said B2W Indonesia Chairman Fahmi Saimima.

In this activity, B2W Indonesia also collaborated with United Bike which provided a special edition mountain bike with the G20 design, with the flags of each member country. Those bicycles were used by the ambassadors and the launch became one of the events at the destination.