Bangkok, 22 April 2007 – For the second time, a Chinese student’s painting caught the eyes of judges, making it the Asia Pacific winner of United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) annual International Children’s Painting Competition. Eight-year old Adrian Lau Tsun Yin’s painting, based on the competition theme, “Climate Change: Actions we can take now”, beat nearly 12000 entries from Asia Pacific to make him the winner of this year’s competition. Last year, 12, Angie Chan, also from Hong Kong, China, took the Asia Pacific prize.

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

Adrian’s painting illustrates scenes of environmental destruction from industry and waste and depicts children from different parts of the world showing ways to prevent more harm to the environment.

“My wish is that people around the world should join hands to save the environment. I think that every little bit can help, for example, switching the lights off when you don't need them, recycling plastic bottles, paper and cans , bringing your own recyclable bag when shopping, using shower when taking a bath, getting energy from solar panel….  Just like what I drew in my picture, many people are taking action to protect our environment. l think that only by working as a team can we succeed to make a difference. And even children can join together to help, because we are the next generation and we should treasure own natural environments,” he said.

Adrian’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).

“Children’s paintings always reflect the state of the crisis of the environmental destruction, expressing their sorrow with unique and creative ideas.  At the same time, they show us various kinds of ways, what we should do or what we can do to preserve our Mother Planet for the future generations.  We deeply wish that their genuine messages will move much more people around the world to take actions together for confronting our common threat, Climate Change.  ” Tomoko Yano, Secretary General of  FGPE said.

Adrian’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 during international celebrations to mark World Environment Day on June 5 2008, to be held in Wellington, New Zealand this year.

“This year’s competition offered children a way to think of actions to combat climate change and they have responded overwhelmingly by creatively showing simple actions we all can take, from planting trees to using public transport, to switching off a light. They have artfully shown that there are actions we can take now,” said Hiroshi Nishimiya, Deputy Regional Director of the UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

"The children's pictures are giving one common message to all other people: safeguard our planet Earth", says Michael Schade, Senior Vice President of Bayer AG.  "We are very happy about the great popularity of the painting competition which is one of the important projects of Bayer's partnership with UNEP. Sustainable development is an integral element of Bayer's corporate policy and with our social commitment we strive to contribute to a good future for ourselves, our children and the coming generations."

“During the three years since Nikon first participated as a co-sponsor of this competition, climate change has come to be recognized as an increasingly big issue in every part of the world. In these urgent circumstances, we seriously consider these works sent from all over the world as important messages of children who will shoulder Earth’s future, and we should take appropriate action to respond them.” said Kawai Yoshimichi, Director, Member of the Board and Executive Officer at Nikon Corporation.

Adrian wins a US$1,000 cash prize and all expense paid trip for him and an accompanying adult to the World Environment Day celebrations in Wellington, New Zealand.

The selection of the regional winner was done by a Jury Committee made up of UNEP staff, representatives from Bayer Thai Co. Ltd., Nikon, and the Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

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 Seventeenth International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment are being announced to mark Earth Day on 22 April 2008. This year’s theme was Climate Change: Actions you can take now. Children aged 6 - 14 were invited to express through painting actions they can take to reduce the impact of climate change such as using renewable energy, introducing energy saving light bulbs at home, sharing vehicles and using public transport, planting trees etc.

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 200,000 entries from children in over 100 countries.

Each UNEP Regional Office (Bahrain, Bangkok, Geneva, Panama, Washington DC, and Nairobi) chose regional winners and also submitted 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 2008 at the main international celebrations to mark World Environment Day in Wellington, New Zealand.

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. The regional and global winners will also travel to the official World Environment Day celebration in Wellington, New Zealand.

A selection of winning paintings will be shown in an exhibition in Wellington New Zealand. They will also be displayed on the Internet and for posters, post cards, calendars, and in publications by UNEP, FGPE, Bayer and Nikon.

Eventually all paintings submitted to the competition will be stored 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 08/5