Children's artistic skills fight climate change with the project Paint for the Planet
Last updated 10/19/2008 11:56:59 PM
Childrens artistic skills fight climate change with the project Paint for the Planet
Young artists from around the world are lending their support to global efforts to combat climate change through a new initiative called Paint for the Planet.
Showcasing children's fears and hopes for the planet, the paintings are a powerful plea from children for leadership on climate change before it is too late.
The new Paint for the Planet website features a selection of stand-out entries from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) International Children's Painting Competition.
It's the launch pad for a fresh campaign, UNite to Combat Climate Change, which will support the call for a definitive agreement at the climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009.
Five young artists from Burundi, Colombia, Malta and the United States will go to New York to share their message for the planet with decision makers, corporate leaders and the media.
They will officially open an exhibit at UN Headquarters in New York this week - the first time the original artwork, chosen from a collection of nearly 200,000 paintings, has ever been displayed.
On 25 October, a selection of paintings will be auctioned at the Harvard Club of New York City to raise emergency funds for children affected by climate-related disasters. The proceeds will be donated to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.
In addition to the live auction, the art will also be sold online on eBay.com in partnership with LiveAuctioneers to enable people around the world to participate.
Pre-bidding for the auctioned paintings will also shortly be available on eBay, liveauctioneers.com and the Paint for the Planet website, www.unep.org/paint4planet.
London will be displaying the top 10 winning posters at the 3rd annual Green Awards for recognising creativity in promoting sustainability on November 12. For more information go to http://www.greenawards.co.uk/