14-Year-Old Chinese Girl Beats 3.2 Million Rivals

2010 International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment organized by Bayer and UNEP

• 2.6 million entries from China alone create a new overall record number of participants
• Theme for 2011: “Life in the Forests”

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A dark hand symbolizes the destruction of the environment, stealing and shifting the components that make up the natural biodiversity of the Earth. As more and more elements are removed from their foundations, the world begins to sway ominously and threatens to collapse. But it is not too late: The planet can be saved, for example by using solar energy and wind power or by recycling. This is the message of the painting by 14-year-old Tin Chi Ting Coco from Hong Kong, who has been named the winner of the 19th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment organized jointly by Bayer AG and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This year’s second place winner is 11-year-old Katherine Liu from California.

“Biodiversity is the foundation of all life on our planet”

With the United Nations declaring 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity, “Biodiversity – Connecting with Nature” was chosen as the theme of the competition. Some 600,000 girls and boys aged between six and 14 from 95 countries submitted paintings. In addition, a special Chinese painting competition was held in China with the support of a local partner. This attracted 2.6 million entries, bringing the total number of children participating to a record 3.2 million.

The 20 best paintings from China were then selected to take part in the 19th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment.

“Biodiversity is the foundation of all life on our planet,” says Michael Schade, head of Communications at Bayer AG, “and the works of art produced by these young people reflect this in a particularly striking way. The painting competition is a key part of our partnership with UNEP. The concerns that the young people of the world have expressed over the years in their paintings document their wishes, hopes and fears.”

An independent jury chose the global winners and the six regional winners from Europe, Africa, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Western Asia and Asia Pacific. They will be presented with their awards at an official ceremony during the TUNZA International Children’s Conference in Nagoya, Japan at the end of October. In addition to the trip to Japan, the global and regional winners will receive a sum of money and other prizes. The ceremony will be attended by numerous politicians and representatives of international environment organizations and by around 100 children aged between six and 14 from over 80 countries who will be in Nagoya from October 20 to 26, 2010 to discuss their ideas on the protection of species worldwide. The Japanese Foundation for Global Peace and Environment and Nikon also help to organize the annual painting competition.

An exhibition of high-quality prints of 60 selected paintings will open at the BayKomm center in Leverkusen on August 31 and run until September 17 before going on tour to various towns in Germany.

Invitation to enter the 20th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment

In keeping with the United Nations International Year of Forests, the motto for the 2011 painting competition is “Life in the Forests”. Starting now, children from all over the world are invited to depict their ideas on how to counteract the loss of natural habitats. The competition is open to all children who are between the ages of six and 14 on June 5, 2011 (World Environment Day). Entries must be submitted by April 15, 2011 at the latest.

The paintings must be on DIN A4 or A3 paper. The first and family names, age, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the entrant or his/her parent/legal guardian must be written on the back. Any painting materials may be used. The paintings must not have been entered in any other painting competition.

Entries must be sent by post to the respective UNEP Regional Office at the following address:

United National Environment Programme
Regional Office for North America
900 17^th Street NW, Suite 506
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Please find the gallery with all the winning pictures here: www.childrenspaintingcompetition.bayer.com

For more information on the Bayer UNEP Partnership go to: www.unep.bayer.com

About Bayer Corporation

Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international health care, nutrition and high-tech materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company’s products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time Bayer creates value through innovation, growth and high earning power. The Corporation is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its role as a socially and ethically responsible corporate citizen. Economy, ecology and social responsibility are corporate policy objectives of equal rank. In North America, Bayer had 2009 net sales of approximately 7.7 billion euros (about $10.7 billion) and employed 16,300 at year end. For more information, go to www.bayerus.com.

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