Scottish activist, Vietnamese woman cycle to Paris for environmental protection

A Scottish activist and his Vietnamese friend arrived in Hanoi on Friday as part of their 15,000-km cycling tour from a Mekong Delta province to Paris to raise awareness of and funds for climate change issues.

Simon Nelson – an English teacher and environment activist coming from Scotland – and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, 27, both set foot in the capital after departing from An Giang Province in the Mekong Delta early last month, local media reported.

An Giang is one of Vietnam’s regions that suffer most heavily from climate change.

The two people had covered nearly 2,000 kilometers on their bicycles before reaching Hanoi, according to The Thao & Van Hoa (Sports and Culture) newspaper.

The journey is part of their cycling trip from An Giang to Paris, which will see them traveling nearly 16,000 kilometers during nine months.

Nelson is poised to attend COP21, the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The conference session will be organized in Paris from November 30 to December 11, according to its website.

Nelson and Ngan, his like-minded friend, decided to bike all the way to the session to prove their resolve to combat climate change.

They still have over 14,000 kilometers through 10 other countries ahead.

The two were scheduled to partake in talks yesterday and Wednesday next week at local universities and K-12 schools to help engage the public in activities to avert the calamity of climate change and raise funds for climate-affected residents and environmental protection projects in the Mekong Delta.

Nelson and Ngan will cull evidence of climate change and their disastrous effects from the localities which they have been through and will present it at the Paris conference session to spur participants on to environmental protection activities.

They both work as English teachers in Ho Chi Minh City and share passion for cycling and exploring nature, according to Thanh Nien (Young People) Online.

While the Scot has made several cycling trips in Australia, Ireland, and Britain, his Vietnamese companion has only cycled across Mekong Delta provinces.

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