4.22.2008 - 10:30am ET

(CSRwire) WASHINGTON - April 22, 2008 – Cindy Liu, a fifth-grader at the Harker School in San Jose, Calif., and Connie Yu, a seventh-grader at John Adams Middle School in Edison, N.J., have been named the first and second prize winners, respectively, of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) 17th annual International Children's Painting Competition for North America. They were selected from more than 700 students who submitted artworks in the region.

The International Children's Painting Competition (ICPC), a signature event of UNEP's World Environment Day celebrations held annually on June 5, is sponsored globally by Bayer AG and regionally in North America by Bayer Corporation. Both students won for artwork they created that addresses this year's Painting Competition theme, "Climate Change: Actions We Can Take Now."

Bayer Corporation representatives joined officials from UNEP's North American Regional Office (UNEP RONA) to award a certificate to the first place winner on Earth Day at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Ms. Liu will receive $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Wellington, New Zealand, this year’s World Environment Day global host city, where she will join winners from the other five UNEP regions of Africa; Asia and the Pacific; West Asia; Latin America and the Caribbean; and Europe.

As second prize winner, Ms. Yu and a chaperone will receive an all-expense-paid trip, courtesy of Bayer, to the Chicago Botanic Garden, host venue of the North American World Environment Day celebrations. At the Chicago Botanic Garden, she and local Chicago students will be honored and their artwork unveiled at the ICPC Regional Exhibition.

The International Children's Painting Competition (ICPC), long a key part of World Environment Day, invites elementary and middle school students ages six to 14 from around the world to learn more about the environment and express that knowledge creatively through art. Regional winners are announced on Earth Day in April, while global winners are named on World Environment Day in June.

Last fall, as part of the company's national award-winning Making Science Make Sense(R) (MSMS) program, Bayer Corporation announced a new partnership with UNEP RONA to launch the International Children's Painting Competition in Bayer's MSMS partner schools in six of its local site communities, including Pittsburgh; the San Francisco Bay Area; the Greater Kansas City area; Northern Indiana; Northern New Jersey; and New Martinsville, W.Va.

"With this new partnership and by introducing the International Children's Painting Competition in our area schools, our goal is to help today’s students make the important connection between science literacy and the environment, while reinforcing the notion that everyone has a responsibility when it comes to environmental and climate protection," said Dr. Attila Molnar, President and CEO of Bayer Corporation.

Amy Fraenkel, Director of UNEP's Regional Office for North America, added, "We are extremely proud and excited to be working with Bayer here in North America and commend the company for supporting an outside-the-box approach to traditional science education that uses the arts as a way to foster the next generation of environmentalists."

About World Environment Day

World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. With thousands of events in the six UNEP regions, World Environment Day is considered the largest environmental event of its kind. Both Bayer AG and Bayer Corporation are global and regional sponsors, respectively, of World Environment Day.

About Bayer Corporation's Making Science Make Sense

Making Science Make Sense (MSMS) is Bayer's company-wide initiative that advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science education, employee volunteerism and a public education campaign. Currently, 12 Bayer sites around the country operate local MSMS programs, which together represent a national volunteer corps of more than 1,000 employees.

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. In North America, Bayer had 2007 net sales of 8.1 billion euros and employed 16,800 at year end. Bayer’s three subgroups, Bayer HealthCare, Bayer CropScience and Bayer MaterialScience, improve people’s lives through a broad range of essential products that help diagnose, prevent and treat diseases; protect crops and enhance yields; and advance automobile safety and durability.

About United Nations Environment Programme

Established in 1972 following the United Nation's Conference on the Human Environment, 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.

About Bayer and UNEP

Bayer AG is the first company in the world to forge a long-term partnership with UNEP in the area of youth and environment. The partners first began cooperating on youth environmental projects in Asia in the late 1990s. In 2004, Bayer and UNEP signed a framework agreement to globalize this partnership that, in August 2007, was extended by another three years. The partners have jointly organized a dozen environmental projects for young people around the world, including the TUNZA International Youth Conference, the Young Environmental Envoys Program, Eco-Minds Youth Environmental Forum and the International Children's Painting Competition held in conjunction with World Environment Day. Bayer Corporation in the United States supports UNEP’s World Environment Day activities in North America.

Further information on the partnership between UNEP and Bayer is available on the Internet at: www.unep.bayer.com.

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