6.05.2007 - 08:57am ET

(CSRwire) PITTSBURGH- June 5, 2007 – Furthering its commitment to both science education and environmental awareness in the United States, Bayer Corporation is sponsoring one of the events taking place today in Barrow, Alaska, as part of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2007 World Environment Day (WED).

Capping the daylong series of events in Barrow, host city for North America's WED festivities, will be a special award presented by Bayer Corporation to the nine-year-old Alaskan state winner of UNEP's 16th Annual International Children’s Painting Competition in North America. (Global winners are being honored today in Tromsø, Norway.)

The Alaskan winner, Camille Elisabeth Huebner, from Anchorage was selected from among more than 80 entrants statewide. She is being honored for her artwork which exemplifies this year’s WED theme, "Climate Change in the Arctic: Melting Ice…A Hot Topic?" Her picture depicts a native Alaskan standing in a boat, holding out a life preserver to three polar bears whose heads peek out of a sea of melted ice.

"Bayer is proud to be a part of this very special and very important event here in the United States that so elegantly draws public attention to the issues of environmental protection and sustainable development, both of which are integral to our corporate social responsibility commitment," said Dr. Attila Molnar, President and CEO of Bayer Corporation. "We are especially pleased to sponsor a portion of a program that is designed to help students, ages 6 to 14, become more environmentally aware and set them on the path of becoming tomorrow's environmental stewards."

Bayer Corporation’s sponsorship of the award ceremony in North America is part of Bayer AG’s overall global support of UNEP, its WED activities and the International Children's Painting Competition.

"We're delighted that Bayer Corporation has joined UNEP in North America in our efforts to help educate the public and raise awareness on the issues associated with environmental protection and climate change," said Brennan Van Dyke, Director, Regional Office for North America, UNEP. "What happens in the Arctic and Antarctic doesn’t just stay there, it is a harbinger for us all. We need to learn from the people of Barrow what is going on there so that we, the global community, can take steps to stop and hopefully reverse the changes that are taking place."

About UNEP World Environment Day in North America

UNEP World Environment Day was established in 1972 by the United Nations General Assembly to focus worldwide attention on environmental issues. According to UNEP, the multicultural city of Barrow, with a predominant Inupiat population and the northernmost community in the United States, was selected as the North American host city for WED 2007 because it is a place where this year’s theme of "Climate Change in the Arctic" resonates each and every day in the lives of the indigenous people who live there.

For example, until recently Barrow had a daily minimum temperature below freezing 324 days of the year, allowing the Inupiat to preserve their whaling and hunting and fishing culture. These days, they are coping with thawing permafrost, retreating ice and warming temperatures that threaten their traditional ways.

One of the highlight events today is a Town Hall Meeting that brings local community members including an elder, a hunter and a fisherman together with researchers to share firsthand knowledge and the latest scientific findings on impacts of climate change in the Arctic and how native communities are adapting to this phenomenon.

About the International Children's Painting Competition

The International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment is part of UNEP's TUNZA strategy for children and youth. TUNZA is a word in Kiswahili that means to "treat with care." The program aims to provide young people with information and tools on how to "treat Mother Earth with care" and how to act for a better world.

This annual competition is jointly organized by UNEP, the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer and Nikon. The painting competition has been held since 1990 and in that time has received over 180,000 entries from children in over 100 countries.

Each UNEP Regional Office (Bahrain, Bangkok, Geneva, Mexico City, Washington, and Nairobi) chooses regional winners. This year, these offices submitted at least 100 paintings to the global selection. The selection of the global winners was made by a jury comprising representatives of all the organizers. The global winners are also being announced today at the main international celebrations to mark World Environment Day in Tromsø, Norway.

About Bayer and UNEP

Bayer AG is the first company in the world to enter 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 the summer of 2004, Bayer and UNEP signed a framework agreement to globalize this partnership, and the partners now jointly organize a dozen environmental projects annually 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.

About Bayer Corporation

Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international health care, nutrition and innovative materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. In North America, Bayer had 2006 net sales of 7.8 billion euros and employed 17,200 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. Bayer AG stock is a component of the DAX and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: BAY).

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