The United Nations will host bike ride this Friday in New York City to promote low carbon sustainable transport.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leading a U.N. Bike Ride this Friday in New York City. The ride was co-organized by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), the Dutch Cycling Embassy, and the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). The ride aims to promote bicycling as a means of sustainable low-carbon urban transport, in connection to the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as the Rio+20 Conference, held in Rio de Janeiro on June 20-22.

Festivities kick off at 5:00 p.m. in front of the United Nations headquarters, with Ban Ki-moon delivering a welcoming address, along with Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation Janette Sadik-Khan and other dignitaries. Participants in the ride will include ambassadors of the member states of the U.N., high U.N. officials and NGO representatives, including Holger Dalkmann, director of EMBARQ (the producer of this blog). Meanwhile, UN DESA will host a “working group” meeting on June 7-8 to make recommendations on more sustainable transport systems that can address increasing congestion and pollution worldwide.

The Rio+20 Conference will convene world leaders across government, NGOs, the private sector, and other institutions to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection. The conference will focus on two themes: creating a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and establishing the institutional framework for sustainable development.

EMBARQ is pleased to be participating in the conference, as hosts, organizers, participants or speakers for events like “Sustainable Transport in the Cities of the Future.” For a full list of events that include EMBARQ’s participation, click here.