Dear editor,
Cycling Campaign for North Bedfordshire (CCNB) would like to wish all Bedford Borough current and potential cyclists a Happy New Year.
This year, according to the October 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will see only a decade left to take the steps necessary to limit temperature rises to 1.5℃ to prevent a global warming catastrophe.
It will be huge challenge. Yet the greatest threat is the belief that someone else will do it; the government or local authority. The truth is that everyone, including all residents, MUST do their bit no matter how small.
The latest 2017 local authority carbon dioxide emission figures, the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, showed that in Bedford Borough, 41% came from transport compared to the UK national average of 27%.
2020 should therefore be the start of a reduction in the use of motor vehicles with the change wherever possible to more sustainable modes of travel; for short journeys – cycling and walking, and for longer distances – public transport.
Cycling and walking will give the added benefit of better health through increased physical activity and the reduction in toxic air pollution.
For those residents that have to continue to drive there will be less congestion.
CCNB appeals to all residents to do what they can. Once a critical temperature rise is reached there will be no turning back
Peter Blakeman
CCNB
