The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) in cooperation with La Poste, France will jointly issue postage stamps commemorating the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21.

The conference which will be held in Le Bourget, France, from 30 November to 11 December is significant, as the expected outcome is a new international agreement on climate change, applicable to all countries with the aim of keeping global warming below 2 degrees C.

For the stamp designs, a competition was organized by the French Postal Service for students of the Saint-Étienne School of Design, France. Five entries were selected as the finalists and after the public and a jury voted, the winning stamp design was unveiled by the President of France, François Hollande.

The winning stamp design, which will be issued jointly by UNPA (shown on the left below, USD$1.20 value) and La Poste, was illustrated by Noémie Auzet, aged 22, a fourth year student at the design school. UNPA will also issue two additional stamps from the selected finalists (shown in the middle and on the right), which were illustrated by Charles Haumont (CHF 1,40 value) and Nolwenn Le Nir (Euro 0,80 value).

There will be a special first day of issue ceremony for the issuance of these stamps on 24 November at the UNEP/UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The stamps will also be available from the UNPA offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna.

To purchase these stamps and to learn more about UNPA and its stamp programme, please visit unstamps.org. You can also visit the UNPA stamp shops in New York, Geneva and Vienna. UNPA is now on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram! Like us and share your experiences with UNPA!

Photo credit: David Street (Flickr)