20 Moving Photos, Winners Of 2019 Environmental Photographer Of The Year

A young boy drinking dirty water in an area affected by deforestation, risking cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery and other water-born tropical diseases, is among the winners of this year’s Environmental Photographer of the Year prize, an annual international contest showcasing the best in environmental photography, run by CIWEN, @CIWEM.

“Highlighting the impacts being wrought on our planet by its most dominant species,” the organizers explain, “the competition also celebrates humanity’s innate ability to survive and innovate, lending hope to us all that we can overcome challenges to live sustainably.”

At a time when millions of people are taking to the streets, joining the wave of global climate strikes and demonstrations spreading around the world, uniting across timezones, cultures and generations to demand urgent action on the escalating ecological emergency from governments and institutions, these winning photographs reveal the raw reality of how people and wildlife are struggling with the impact of climate change around the world.

The Environmental Photographer of the Year award, which is supported by the UN Environment, Arup, and Olympus UK, “exists to inspire change from political leaders, decision makers, and the general public.”

A victim of #ClimateChange, this photo by photographer SL Shanth Kumar of homes battered by flooding in Mumbai won the Ciwem environmental photographer of the year 2019. A huge wave lashes at a shanty, throwing a fisherman from his home in Bandra, Mumbai, India. He’s dragged in by the strong currents but was rescued by fellow fishermen.

The reclaimed city of Mumbai is facing an increased risk of coastal flooding as a result of climate change. The city's land and sea temperatures have been rising, triggering a corresponding impact on sea levels.

Fallen trees lie on a beach as the waves from the Funafuti lagoon in Tuvalu lap around them. Land erosion has always been a problem for the South Pacific country and are intensifying as sea levels rise. Rising seas are on the verge of completely submerging the tiny archipelago’s islands.

Hambach Forest was nearly 12,000 years old when it was bought by a power company to dig for the brown coal buried underneath. The ancient forest was once the size of Manhattan. Now only 10% remains.

This rhino is being de-horned in an attempt to protect it from being poached. With the current severe level of poaching, experts recommend that rhinos should be dehorned every 12-24 months to effectively deter hunters. 

On January 1, 2018 Mexicali was one of the most contaminated cities in the world due to fireworks, climate change, location, industry and cars.

A woman sleeps on a dirty riverbank in Banglasesh.

A boy plays with a plastic bag. About 380 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide each year. Production increased exponentially from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to 448 million tons by 2015. Every day, approximately eight million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans.

Photographing trees at night with a long shutter speed and four LED spotlights isn’t easy: The lightest breeze will blur the canopy. It took the photographer five long nights to capture this image. The final image shows the trees in all their splendor.

In the Sisdol landfill in Nepal, waste-pickers rummage through rubbish all day looking for materials or valuables to sell. This temporary landfill located near Kathmandu has been in operation since 2005. Today, it’s running out of capacity.

Thousands of poor people come to the capital city, Dhaka, to find work every year. Many are forced to do hard labor such as carrying coal on their heads

A girl sleeps on a desk inside her schoolroom. Extreme rains have tripled in the Sahel in the last 35 years because of global warming. Climate change has caused 70 episodes of torrential rains in the last decade at the same time that the region also suffers severe droughts.

As fish stocks decrease, fishing methods become increasingly extreme. Destructive fishing with small-hole nets devastate the marine environment.

Underwater cleaning in the Bosphorus as part of the Zero Waste Blue project.

The following striking images were also highly praised. The complete gallery of finalists can be seen here.