H. E. Luc Véron, European Union Ambassador to the Philippines, will lead the bike tour. He will be joined by University of the Philippines Los Baños Vice-Chancellor Roberto Cereno, Los Banos Mayor Anthony Genuino and Asean Centre for Biodiversity Executive Director Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim, as well as Ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives of EU and ASEAN Member States.  

“This bike tour is a prelude to the first meeting of the leaders of the EU and its Member States and of the ASEAN Member States gathering in Brussels on 14 December for an EU-ASEAN commemorative summit, which will be attended by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. “, said Ambassador Véron.

He said that the bike tour is also a concrete way to stress the importance of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to achieve the goal of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“Environment and climate change are important areas of cooperation between the two regions and of the EU’s approach towards the Indo-Pacific”, Ambassador Véron added.

The bike tour is being held in collaboration with the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, UP Los Banos, Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems, Provincial Government of Laguna and City Government of Los Banos.

Prior the bike tour, the EU is handing over bike racks to the UP community in Los Banos.   Bikers will also plant trees at the Makiling Botanic Garden to further drumbeat the importance of environment protection.

The tree planting is also in keeping with the “ForOurPlanet Campaign” of the European Union, which aims to join forces all across the globe to take action on the ground #ForNature and the climate!

All these activities are being held by the EU Delegation to the Philippines, UP in Los Banos, Laguna, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, Provincial Government of Laguna, City Government of Los Banos and the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems.

BIKE45RIDE BACKGROUND

In celebration of 45 years of dialogue relations, ASEAN and the European Union (EU) organised a region-wide cycling event called Bike45Ride. This initiative was launched in Jakarta, Indonesia, in August 2022 as a joint effort to promote a sustainable and greener future by encouraging more people to switch to more environment-friendly modes of transportation. The Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi and the Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to ASEAN Igor Driesmans officially launched the Bike45Ride cycling event last August in Jakarta. Representatives of ASEAN, EU Delegations and EU Member States marked the occasion with a symbolic ride from the ASEAN Secretariat to the premises of the EU Delegation in Jakarta.

On 2 December 2022, the Bike45Ride Philippine leg will be conducted in Los Baños, Laguna where the Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve, an ASEAN Heritage Park and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) Headquarters are located. Aside from the 7-km bike ride, ASEAN and EU Ambassadors and other diplomats, as well as local government officials will be planting seeds of hope in a tree growing activity at the Makiling Botanic Gardens. This event is jointly organised by the EU, ACB, the University of the Philippines Los Baños, and the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems.

As a testament to their shared goal of promoting the conservation and sustainable use of the region’s biodiversity, the ACB and the EU are currently working on a joint initiative on protected areas called the Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in ASEAN (BCAMP) project.