The International Children's Painting Competition

Nikon thinks that fostering environmental conservation awareness among children who are going to be out future is an important subject in order to preserve the precious earth for future generation. Nikon has been co-sponsoring the International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment since the fifteenth competition was held in 2006, with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE) and Bayer AG.

The competition calls for children aged 6 to 14 to "send a message around the world to conserve the earth through posters" on the year's theme. The competition has received about 3.6 million entries from over 100 countries.

Each year in the autumn and for an approximate six-month period, the competition invites children to enter their paintings from across the globe. After undergoing regional screenings in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, North America and West Asia, prize-winners are selected at the following year's global screening convention which takes place in the spring.

Nikon hopes that children will develop their awareness for environmental conservation through the medium of painting. Nikon also seeks to appeal to as many people as possible about the importance of environmental conservation by showcasing the winning entries at exhibitions and printing them onto postcards and calendars for distribution.

The theme of the 21st competition—"Green Communities"—was inspired by that of the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Brazil; namely, by the theme of "sustainable development and the green economy". About 630,000 entries from countries across the world were submitted. In May 2012, the global screening convention was held at the Nikon Corporation in Tokyo and 57 global prize-winners were chosen, including those attaining 1st to 5th prize-winning positions.
The award ceremony was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in October 2012. The winners were invited to the ceremony.