Climate change is one of the most critical global challenges of our time. Recent events have emphatically demonstrated our growing vulnerability to climate change. The impacts of climate change will range from affecting agriculture – further endangering food security –, sea-level rise and the accelerated erosion of coastal zones, to increasing intensity of natural disasters, species extinction and the spread of vector-borne diseases.

Saloni Musek Maru, 11, Kenya 2005 Winner

In launching the 16th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – in cooperation with the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer and the Nikon Corporation – invites children from around the world to express their thoughts on climate change through the medium of art. 

The Competition has been held annually since 1990 and in that time has received close to 200,000 entries from children in over 100 countries.

Children who will be between the ages of 6 and 14 years on World Environment Day 2007 (5 June) from all regions of the world are invited to submit their paintings on the theme to their Regional UNEP Office by 31 December 2006.

Judging takes place in two rounds: UNEP Regional Offices and their partners  will select regional winners, while the final selection will be done by UNEP, the Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE Japan) , Bayer and Nikon.

Winners for the regional competitions will be announced in April 2007. Winners for the global competition will be announced on World Environment Day, 5 June 2007.

The regional first prize winners and the global winner will each receive a cash prize and a trip for them and a accompanying adult to the 2007 official World Environment Day celebrations in Tromsø, Norway. Other prizes include diplomas, plaques, T-shirts, stationary and drawing sets.

The winning paintings will be exhibited at various venues in Japan, Germany, Norway, and other countries, as well as on the websites of the Competition organizers. In the past,  painting competition entries have been used on UNEP posters, post cards, calendars, in UNEP publications or environmental magazines to be distributed worldwide.

Ranjani Dharmarajan, 10 , Kenya 2005 Winner

After the Competition, all paintings will be stored in the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan.  

For full rules – including guidelines on which country belongs to which region – and information on how to submit entries, please see the Painting Competition website: http://www.unep.org/tunza/paintcomp

For more information, please contact Theodore Oben, Head, Children and Youth Unit, Division of Communications and Public Information, UNEP: +254-020 762 3282; theodore.oben@unep.org

Additional Information:

The Children's Painting Competition is part of UNEP's TUNZA programme for children and youth. 'Tunza' means to treat with care and respect in Kiswahili and it is a wide-ranging programme to involve children and young people in environmental issues.

Bayer is UNEP's primary partner for its children and youth activities. The German-based international enterprise with core competences in the fields of health care, nutrition and innovative materials currently supports the TUNZA programme with sponsorship amounting to one million Euros per annum. The cooperation of UNEP and Bayer has been in place for over a decade and covers organizing competitions for World Environment Day, supporting conferences and providing opportunities for young people to participate in environmental study tours and international learning forums.  

Entries from Africa should be sent to:

UNEP Regional Office for Africa (ROA)
P.O Box 30552
Nairobi 00100, KENYA
Phone :(254 2) 624 292 Fax: (254 2) 762 3928
Email: roainfo@unep.org