14-year-old Chinese girl wins painting competition organized by UNEP and Bayer

A dark hand symbolizes the destruction of the environment, stealing and shifting the building blocks 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 materials. This is the message behind the painting by 14-year-old Tin Chi Ting Coco from Hong Kong, who was 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) as part of their partnership.

With the United Nations declaring 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity, the theme chosen for this year’s competition was “Biodiversity – Connecting with Nature.” Some 600,000 girls and boys aged between six and 14 from 95 countries submitted paintings. In addition, a separate 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 enter the 19th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment.