Denmark’s Transport Minister Benny Engelbrecht To Urge Cycling’s Inclusion At Future COPs

Denmark’s Transport Minister Benny Engelbrecht To Urge Cycling’s Inclusion At Future COPs

Denmark's Transport Minister Benny Engelbrecht speaks in a session during the COP26 UN Climate ... [+] Change Conference in Glasgow on November 10, 2021. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images) Denmark's Minister for Transport Benny Engelbrecht has met with cycling representatives in the COP26 badge-only Blue Zone to accept a joint letter from more than 300 organizations—including Greenpeace—calling for cycling's inclusion in future COPs. Cycling was excluded from high-level discussions at the Glasgow-staged event, as were walking, trains and buses. Instead, the focus at yesterday's Transport Day was almost wholly on electric cars and trucks. For all the talk of COP26 being the "last chance saloon" for the planet there will be many COPs to come. COP27 is to be staged in Egypt next year, and COP28 will be hosted by an Asian city. The emphasis on electric cars at the UN's 26th Conference of the Parties was because it's "easy" for politicians, remarked European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) CEO Jill Warren from the Blue Zone yesterday. "Promoting electric cars is a comfortable solution for world leaders," she remarked. "Carmakers are part of an extremely powerful lobby, but we're here to say, no, you