THE DEPUTY chairman of Stormont’s agriculture and environment committee plans to make the 400-km round-trip to Cop26 by bike in an effort to raise awareness of the climate crisis and active travel.
Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan will leave his home in Dunloy, Co Antrim tomorrow morning bound for Belfast, where he’ll take the ferry to Cairnryan before cycling on to Glasgow.
The 47-year-old keen cyclist, who less than six months ago suffered a cardiac arrest while undergoing routine hospital tests, says politicians “need to lead by example”.
Cop26 is hosted this year by the UK government and will see many of the world’s leaders gather in Scotland to discuss climate change and how to tackle it.
Mr McGuigan, who is a co-sponsor of Green leader Claire Bailey’s climate change private member’s bill, told The Irish News he using his pedal powered trip to highlight the need for climate action and the role active travel can play in reducing carbon emissions.
"I believe politicians need to lead by example and by doing this I hope to highlight how we can help mitigate the impact of climate change and live more sustainably through our own actions," he said last night.
"It may be a small step given the scale of the problem we're facing but in addition to its environmental benefits, cycling is also good for our physical and mental well-being."
The North Antrim MLA said Stormont needed to "significantly increase" investment in active travel, which he said was a "just a fraction" of what the Scottish executive spends.
"Investing in the infrastructure for active travel, be it improving access public transport or expanding the greenway network, is a win-win in terms of health and environmental outcomes but at the minute we are lagging far behind everywhere else on these islands," he said.
In June, Mr McGuigan revealed how his heart stopped while undergoing a procedure at the Royal Victoria Hospital.
The Stormont committee deputy chairman, who suffers from arrhythmia – commonly known as irregular heartbeat – has been diagnosed with early onset heart disease and is likely to be on medication for the rest of his life.
Nevertheless, he is an advocate of taking regular, moderate exercise and cycles up to six hours every weekend, as well as running.
On arrival in Cairnryan tomorrow afternoon, he plans to wait until most of the HGVs have embarked on their journeys before heading north to Glasgow, with the latter part of his journey in darkness.
He will return home on Monday, by a slightly shorter route via the ferry to Larne.
