Kuala Lumpur/Bangkok, 24 February 2009 – Nickelodeon launches the Big Green Help National School Programme in partnership with the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and supported by Tree Theatre Group, Astro, The Body Shop Malaysia, and Mid Valley City Shopping Mall, to educate all primary school students about global environmental issues. Nickelodeon’s The Big Green Help is a global campaign aimed at empowering children with a platform to play an active role in combating climate change.

Dato Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim, Deputy Director of Education Malaysia, said, “Nickelodeon’s play-to-learn philosophy will definitely help our children retain the message about the gravity of the Earth’s environmental issues and through The Big Green Help, we hope our children in Malaysia not only learn about environmental conservation, but get involved in making a difference.”

Jes I. Izaidin from Tree Theatre Group, local NGO partner of The Big Green Help campaign said, “We are pleased to work closely with Nickelodeon as a campaign partner to support this wonderful eco effort to empower kids to take the lead and combat this global environmental issue at a local grassroots level.”

Nickelodeon and MOE have jointly developed an essay-writing competition as part of The Big Green Help National School Programme. Children will write an essay to voice their opinions on environmental issues, on how members of the public can help, and what they have been actively doing to help the environment. One winner will represent Malaysia as a delegate at the 2009 International Children’s Conference on the Environment in Daejeon, South Korea organized by UNEP and the UNEP National Committee for the Republic of Korea 17-21 August.  All participants of the essay writing competition will automatically receive the official “Nickelodeon The Big Green Helper Certificate”.  There are also five limited edition Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants Monopoly board-game sets for runner ups.

Nickelodeon and UNEP will also name five top schools with the most entries, The Big Green Help Champion School. Nickelodeon camera crew will make a surprise visit with everyone’s favourite Nickelodeon character, SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star and the celebration of the winning school’s achievement will be aired on Nickelodeon television channel (Astro Channel 612).

Indra Suharjono, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Nickelodeon Asia said, “At Nickelodeon, we believe in empowering children with the knowledge to create a better world. The Big Green Help aims to do just that – It is a great platform for children to step up, learn more about the environment and its issues, and make a difference for the global environment. The International Children’s Conference by the United Nations Environment Programme presents an excellent opportunity for children to share with the world the ways we all can combat the global environmental issue at a grassroots level.”

“We hope that through this campaign we will be able to nurture a generation of young children into future ambassadors for the environment,” said Satwant Kaur, Regional Information Officer, United Nations Environment Programme.

Henry Tan, Astro’s Chief Operating Officer of Customer and Content Group said, “As the leading Direct to Home Pay TV operator in the country, Astro is well placed to help create awareness among Malaysians towards the importance of environmental conservation and we are happy to be part of this green effort.”

To kick start The Big Green Help National School Programme, Nickelodeon has partnered with The Body Shop Malaysia to encourage the public to Kick The Bag Habit. At Mid Valley City Shopping Centre today, kids will solicit pledges from shoppers to cultivate at least one green habit in 2009 by bringing their own reusable bags when shopping. All shoppers who make the pledge today at The Body Shop Malaysia retail outlet at Mid Valley City Shopping Mall will enjoy special incentives from The Body Shop until 31 March 2009.

Datin Mina Cheah-Foong, Managing Director of The Body Shop Malaysia said, “The Body Shop is known internationally for our ethics, protecting people and our planet. We are a huge supporter of pro-social environmental campaigns, and have been playing an active role in raising awareness of environmental issues. Since 2006, we have played a significant role in the Save Belum-Temengor campaign, which protects the rainforests from logging activities. We believe that everyone has a part to play in saving the planet, and so we hope to inculcate planet-friendly habits in all young and old.”

Note to Editors:

About The Big Green Help
In partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme, The Big Green Help campaign is a global pro-social initiative by Nickelodeon that translates complex environmental messaging or issues into simple meaningful actions to empower kids to lead the way in making the Earth a greener planet! There are a lot of confusing messages out there about why the environment needs our help, but one thing is clear: KIDS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

About Nickelodeon Asia
Nickelodeon Asia is the leading entertainment brand dedicated exclusively to kids. The 24-hour channel and programming blocks are seen by more than 3.4 million households throughout the region, including Brunei, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.  Nickelodeon’s vast multiplatform brand businesses stretch over its interactive website www.nicksplat.com, thriving consumer products sector and global sales and licensing of Nickelodeon program franchises.  Internationally, Nickelodeon is the most widely distributed kid’s network in the world with a cumulative reach to 471 million households and 161 territories globally with businesses including music, publishing, interactive games, and Nickelodeon Movies.

About the United Nations Environment Programme
UNEP's mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UNite to combat climate change is the United Nations campaign to support the call for a definitive agreement on a comprehensive global climate regime for the period after 2012, when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires.        

About the 2009 Tunza International Children's Conference on the Environment. 17-21 August 2009,  Daejeon, South Korea
The United Nation Environment Programme in cooperation with UNEP National Committee for the Republic of Korea will be hosting the 2009 Tunza International Children’s Conference on the Environment in Daejeon, Korea from the 17 to 21 August 2009. The Conference whose theme will be Climate Change: Our Challenge will collectively bring together about 400 participants (aged 10 to 14) from over 100 countries. The daily themes will include climate change and its effect on bio-diversity, climate change and young people, water and sustainable lifestyle

http://www.unep.org/tunza/children/inner.asp?ct=events&ev=int_children_conf&conf=2009_tunza_con

About The Body Shop
The Body Shop International plc is the original ethical cosmetics company, now operating more than 2,500 stores in over 60 markets worldwide. The Body Shop has constantly sought out wonderful natural ingredients from all four corners of the globe to bring you products bursting with effectiveness, to enhance your natural beauty. We strive to use our planet’s resources wisely, searching for outstanding natural materials and ingredients from across the globe to include in our range of products. We continue to lead the way, sourcing sustainable palm oil, introducing 100% recycled packaging, and raising funds and awareness to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, and continuing to support marginalised communities around the world through our Community Trade fair trade programme.

For over 30 years The Body Shop has believed that business has the power to make the right kind of difference to the world. Our unique philosophy continues to drive everything we do, allowing our customers around the world to become ‘activists’, simply by choosing from our range of products.  As Dame Anita Roddick said: “Activism isn’t listed on The Body Shop labels as an ingredient, but it is there as surely as the bergamot and hemp oil”.

For more information, contact:

Mr Shane Lee, Nickelodeon, Marketing & Communications Manager
DID: (+65) 6420 7145, H/P: (+65) 9387 1376, Email: shane.lee@mtv-asia.com
 
Ms Satwant Kaur, UNEP, Regional Information Officer
Tel: (+66) 2 288 2127, Fax: (+66) 2 280 3829, Email: kaur@un.org

AsiaPRWerkz, Tel:(+65) 6536 6881, Fax:(+65) 6535 2008
Ms Fiona Koh, H/P: (+65) 9100 4325, Email: Fiona@asiaprwerkz.com
Ms Julie Chiang, H/P: (+65) 9009 5781, Email: Julie@asiaprwerkz.com

UNEP ROAP News Release 09/01