Bangkok, 25 April 2007 – Twelve-year old Angie Chan’s painting on Climate Change, the theme of the 16th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment, beat more than 7,500 entries from Asia Pacific to make her the Asia Pacific winner of this year’s competition.

The painting competition is an annual event that is jointly organized by UNEP, Bayer AG, the Japan-based Foundation of Global Peace and Environment and Nikon Corporation.

Her painting depicts scenes of environmental destruction from industry and waste and shows children from different parts of the world showing ways to prevent more harm to the environment.

“Pollution and its emissions are going to change the climate. We need to stop it otherwise it leads to the end of the world! Just like what I drew in my painting, children from all races work as a "team". The child on the left is watering and tending our plants. The next child is using a flashlight that gets its energy from the solar panel beside him. The girl on the right is tying smoke funnels up so they can’t pollute our world anymore. They are all helping as a team to try and make the earth a better place for us to live in. We hope one day, the beautiful lands (the desert, tropical rainforest, the beach the north and south poles) and the seas under the "clear" rainbow still exist and enjoy their unique climates,”said winner, Angie Chan.

Angie’s painting, along with other winning entries, will be exhibited at various venues in Japan and other countries and the websites of UNEP and Foundation of Global Peace and Environment (FGPE).

“The colorful and creative paintings by children from around the world depict the beauty of their countries’ nature and their daily lives, as well as various forms of environmental destruction.  We sincerely hope that these pictures will impress and motivate all the people who see them to take actions for protecting the environment, and encourage people to work together to preserve our beautiful and peaceful planet for the future generations,” Tomoko Yano, Secretary General of  FGPE said.

Angie’s entry will move on to the global level, to compete with entries from other regions – West Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and North America. The winners of the global competition will be announced at international celebrations to mark World Environment Day on June 5 2007, to be held in Tromsø, Norway.

“We are increasingly seeing more and more children participating from this region in this competition. It shows that more and more, Asian children are becoming more aware not only about the environment but also in the issues that are affecting their world. It also shows that they care about how our actions are affecting the world that we live in now and the world that we are leaving behind for them,” said Surendra Shrestha, Regional Director of the UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Mr. Dominikus von Pescatore, Senior Bayer Representative for North ASEAN Country Group and Managing Director of Bayer Thailand added, "Looking at the world through the eyes of a child can give adults too a whole new perspective and many new ideas. As part of its partnership with UNEP, Bayer considers it essential to awaken the interest of young people in environmental protection and to take their concerns for the future of our planet seriously." 

“By co-sponsoring the International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment with UNEP, Nikon would like to provide children all over the world with an opportunity to pay attention to environmental issues. At the same time, Nikon hopes that children’s paintings would inspire adults to take proactive actions for the imminent environment problems too.”

Angie wins a US$1,000 cash prize and all expense paid trip for her and an accompanying adult to the official World Environment Day celebrations in Tromsø, Norway.

The selection of the regional winner was done by a Jury Committee made up of  an art teacher and representatives from UNEP, Bayer Thai Co. Ltd., and Nikon.

For More Information Please Contact : Satwant Kaur, Regional Information Officer, UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, E-mail: kaur@un.org, Tel: +662 2882127, Mobile: +6683 9086000

NOTES TO EDITORS

The regional winners of the Sixteenth International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment are being announced to mark  Earth Day on 22 April 2007. This year’s theme was Climate Change. Children aged 6 - 14 were invited to express their hopes and fears about the climate change through the medium of art. This years painting competition attracted over 13,500 entries from 104 countries. Of this, nearly 7,800 were from Asia Pacific.

This annual competition is jointly organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer and Nikon. The painting competition has been held since 1990 and in that time has received over 180,000 entries from children in over 100 countries.

Each UNEP Regional Office (Bahrain, Bangkok, Geneva, Mexico City, Washington DC, and Nairobi) chose regional winners and also submitted at least 100 paintings to the global selection. The selection of the global winners was made by a Jury comprised of representatives of all the organizers. These global winners will be announced on 5 June 2007 at the main international celebrations to mark World Environment Day in Tromso Norway.

All regional and global winners will receive a cash prize (US$ 1,000 for the regional winners, US$ 2,000 for the global), and there are additional special prizes, such as drawing kits and environmental stationery. The regional and global winners will also travel to the official World Environment Day celebration in Tromso, Norway.

A selection of winning paintings will be shown in exhibitions in Tromso, Norway and other countries. They will also be exhibited on the Internet.  The , selected paintings will be used for posters, post cards, calendars, and in publications.

Eventually all paintings submitted to the global competition will be held at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan.

The International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment is part of UNEP's TUNZA strategy for children and youth. TUNZA is a word in Kiswahili that means to “treat with care”.  The programme aims to provide young people with information and tools on how to “treat Mother Earth with care” and how to act for a better word.

UNEP ROAP News Release 07/05