Climate change: Actions we can take now to reduce our negative impact

Winner from China: “Work with others to save the Earth” / 15,400 entries from 100 countries

Leverkusen, June 5, 2008 – The Earth is blooming and flourishing, but it is trapped behind bars. Arms are ripping the bars apart. These arms show how the Earth can be set free by using, for example, solar and wind power, by planting trees, recycling waste and traveling by public transport. This is the image with which 14-year-old Gloria Ip Tung from China won this year’s International Children’s Painting Competition, which Bayer and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have been regularly organizing for several years as part of their collaboration. Its theme ties in with today’s World Environment Day: “Climate change: Actions we can take now to reduce our negative impact”. The winners were honored on Thursday in Wellington, New Zealand during the official celebrations to mark World Environment Day.

More than 15,400 children from almost 100 countries took part in the 17th International Children’s Painting Competition – a record number of participants. The pictures all share one clear message that the children are keen to pass on to adults: Take care of our planet – it's the only one we have!

“News on global warming is seen often, which shows that the problem is getting serious“, says Gloria. “Recently on the news they said that there won't be any winters in the future, which really frightened me. I therefore have taken the responsibility to work with others to save the earth. I participated in the children’s painting competition to express my thoughts on how we can save the earth.“

“The response to our painting competition in recent years has been impressive. It demonstrates that children across the world are genuinely concerned about climate change,” says Michael Schade, Head of Corporate Communications at Bayer. “However, most of the children use their pictures to express not only their concerns about the state of the Earth, but also their hopes. In their eyes, man already has the solutions to climate change – we just have to use them!”

During a special ceremony, representatives of Bayer, UNEP and the New Zealand government presented certificates and prizes to the global winners and to the six regional winners from North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, West Asia and Asia-Pacific. All the winners were invited by Bayer to travel to New Zealand with an accompanying adult to attend the awards ceremony – for some, it was their first major trip abroad.

The European winner was 13-year-old Evdokia Vallis from Greece. She painted a globe with a smiling face, riding a bicycle towards wind turbines, watched over by a laughing Sun. “I am very interested in the protection of nature, but also want to convey an optimistic note as can be seen in my painting: the Earth definitely has a smile on its face“, she comments.

For the first time, the best pictures will be on public display at World Environment Day in Wellington. They will then be on show in international exhibitions, including at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. Bayer will exhibit the pictures at its sites.

More than 190,000 children have taken part in this environmental painting competition since 1990. Since 2004, it has been part of the youth environment program that is run by Bayer and UNEP and implemented in numerous projects around the globe.


For additional information about the Bayer-UNEP partnership see: www.unep.bayer.com