EU, KCCA promote cycling to combat climate change, traffic congestion

The European Union in Uganda and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) have partnered to promote cycling as a way of combating climate change in the country.

On Friday, the two partners organized a cycling exercise from KCCA offices at City Hall to Kololo Senior Secondary School as part of the EU Green Diplomacy Week and Kampala Cycling Day.

“You know, bicycles will reduce carbon emissions. Obviously, there's no engine; your legs are the engine. They will also ease congestion in traffic, and it's a very healthy alternative. You get stronger by bicycling,” the head of the EU Mission to Uganda, Jan Sadek said .

“We want to show this by bicycling through town today with a great number of people from the EU Member States and from KCCA. So, here we want to show what a good mode of transportation bicycling is.”

The EU Ambassador to Uganda said the green diplomacy week is aimed at demonstrating that the environment can be protected by reducing carbon emission by individual choices.

“The EU is working constantly with Uganda to try to improve the use of renewable energy in Uganda, as we do in Europe and around the globe in many other countries. So, we have many projects ongoing here. One big one is that we want to rehabilitate the Nalubale-Kira hydropower plant and provide financing for that, so that Uganda can produce even more renewable energy.”

The head of the EU mission in Uganda said the message behind these activities is that every person in Kampala and the country at large has an individual choice to make towards saving the environment.

“You can choose to go by car or by bike. My message to all the citizens in Kampala is to try the bike as a mode of transportation.”

He said Ugandans can push authorities to have more bicycle lanes for safer riding in Kampala .

The acting KCCA Executive Director, Frank Rusa reasoned with the head of the EU mission in Uganda about the benefits of cycling.

“We are killing many birds with one stone. Obviously it’s good for your health but it is also good for the environment. I have been seeing air pollution reports, and the reports are a little bit concerning. We need to do something about that. Beyond that, there is an issue of health, and there is an issue of dealing with traffic congestion, which is already a big problem in our city. So this initiative is great because we are solving many things with one stroke,” he said.

“Let’s keep this culture going. It is good for our city and all of you Kampala residents; let us start thinking in terms of getting out of these cars and using bikes, especially for short distances. We shall make our environment better, but also our health will get better.”