Note to Correspondents

Exhibit of photographs, paintings on polar experiences

 

shows consequences of global warming in antarctica

 

Opening Ceremony in United Nations Visitors’ Lobby on 26 October

The issue of climate change has never been higher on the international political and environmental agenda, nor has the public’s attention been more focused on its impacts and the challenges that it brings.  With this in mind, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) brings to United Nations Headquarters an exhibit of polar experiences, which opens with a formal ceremony and reception in the South Gallery of the Visitors’ Lobby at 6 p.m. on Friday, 26 October.

This photographic and art exhibition, which highlights the fragile beauty of the Antarctic continent and the perilous consequences of climate change, looks at the same issue from two very different perspectives –- that of the award-winning photographer Sebastian Copeland, as well as through the visions of the paintings of young children from all over the world.

Copeland, environmental activist, lecturer and winner of the 2007 International Photography Award for Professional Photographer of the Year in the Book Category, showcases photographs taken from his book entitled Antarctica:  The Global Warning, in which he captured the accelerated devastation of the Antarctic ice shelf while aboard the research vessel the Ice Lady Patagonia.

The paintings were selected from award-winning entries of the 16^th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment sponsored by UNEP, the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment, Bayer and the Nikon Corporation.

This exhibition is sponsored by UNEP, with the generous support of Global Green USA, the Hewlett-Packard Company, A Small World, the International Watch Company and Robin and Danny Greenspun.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, please contact Jan Arnesen at tel:  212 963 8531 or arnesen@un.org; or Liza Wichmann at tel:  212 963 0089 or wichmann@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record