A group of 15 athletes from 4 different Eastern Cape townships, the Seeland Development Trust and Masibambane in Saldanha Bay are on a “Run and Cycle Against Climate Change”. This run and cycle will take them on a 900 km odd journey from Coega, POrt Elizabeth to Durban during the COP 17 conference. The grueling journey started at the base of the Electrawinds’ 1,8 MW Wind Turbine in the Coega IDZ in Port Elizabeth on 1 December and will end at Durban’s ICC on 8 December 2011 after gathering signatures en route to raise awareness of the direct effects of climate change on their local community.
The athletes will each complete between 120 and 150 kilometers and at the end of the event be greeted in Durban by, among others, a Municipal delegation from Saldanha Bay and the Belgian Minister of Environmental Affairs. They will hand their petition, MasiSeeland, to high ranking COP17 officials.
The Seeland community comprises 200 environmentally conscious members and owns a property which they hope will become a site for a future wind farm. Together with their charity partner, Masibambane, they have also initiated small scale agricultural activities to alleviate some of the poverty among families living in the area.
Says Seeland’s Chairman, Johan Lewin: With the fishing industry in a shambles and most of our women and men being retrenched and laid off, we needed to bring a positive but urgent message to the world leaders at the international climate change conference in Durban. The Run/Cycle athletes will stop at some towns in the Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal to inform local communities en route about the purpose of the event and also to obtain signatures for the petition, MasiSeeland, which will accompany the message to COP17
The Run Cycle Against Climate Change wants to establish a legacy with the following message to those leaders present:
- Stop nuclear power generation
- Significantly reduce coal power generation, as well as fossil fuels
- Invest more in renewable energy alternatives
- Care more for our planet, people and environment and
- Commit to the promises made to combat climate change and global warming.
The event is sponsored by the Belgian Government and giant wind turbine owners – Electrawinds (Africa Indian Ocean Islands).
Emil Unger, head of Electrawinds Africa says: We’re delighted to participate in this event and we are immensely proud of what these athletes are doing as they are not just paying lip service to the issues surrounding climate change – this is a great feat of endurance and they are prepared to put their bodies on the line for what they believe in. They are an example to us all.
