PITTSBURGH,PA. - October 30, 2008 - To help raise environmental awareness and foster science literacy among elementary- and middle-school students, Bayer Corporation and the United Nations Environment Programme's Regional Office for North America (UNEP RONA) have kicked off the second year of their partnership in the United States to bring the International Children's Painting Competition (ICPC) to schoolchildren nationwide.

With this year's theme, Climate Change "“ Our Challenge, UNEP and Bayer Corporation are inviting students ages six-to-14 to learn more about climate change and express that knowledge creatively through art.

The students' paintings are expected to focus on the impact of global warming on our planet, as well as concrete actions people can take, such as using renewable energy and eco-friendly light bulbs, planting trees, sharing vehicles and using public transportation, among others.

Bayer Corporation's ICPC partnership with UNEP RONA is part of the company's national award-winning Making Science Make Sense(R) initiative that advances science literacy across the United States through inquiry-based, hands-on science learning, employee volunteerism and public education.

"Environmental education projects are an important part of Bayer's commitment to sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and science education/science literacy," said Greg Babe, President and CEO, Bayer Corporation. "With the International Children's Painting Competition, we're able to link these issues together for students who will soon inherit the mantle of the nation's environmental stewards."

Amy Fraenkel, Director of UNEP RONA, added, "Climate change is a priority issue for UNEP, and we are delighted that, through the ICPC, Bayer Corporation and UNEP are helping educate young people on how climate change is impacting our neighborhoods, our communities, our countries and the world. By participating in this competition, they are also learning about measures they themselves can take to help reverse the problem."

The free-style artwork for the ICPC must be submitted on either letter- or legal-size paper and can be done using crayons, colored pencils, watercolors, oils, etc. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2009. For complete entry rules and conditions, please visit www.BayerUS.com/MSMS.

The ICPC regional winners will be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. First-place regional winners are selected from each UNEP region: Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; North America; and West Asia.

This year, the ICPC North American first-prize winner will receive two fully-paid trips. The first trip will be to a World Environment Day celebration in North America on June 5; the second trip or the grand-prize trip will be to the 2009 Tunza International Children's Conference to be held during the summer. Tunza, which is held every two years, is a global youth forum of UNEP that brings together youth from all over the world to share experiences on the environment.

About Making Science Make Sense(R)

Making Science Make Sense (MSMS) is Bayer Corporation's company-wide initiative that advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning, employee volunteerism and public education. There are 12 Bayer sites around the country that operate local MSMS programs, which together feature 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.

Bayer

Bayer

Bayer: Science For A Better Life

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2015, the Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of EUR 46.3 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.6 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.3billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.

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