It’s a cliché as old as time, but sometimes an image really is worth a thousand words. And that’s certainly true of these powerful environmental photographs, depicting everything from the plight of climate refugees to the technologies helping the transition to net zero emissions. Presented at the UN’s COP26 conference in Glasgow this year, these are the winning and shortlisted images from the Environmental Photographer of the Year (EPOTY) 2021, run by CIWEM and Waterbear Network in partnership with Nikon.

Not even the waterways in the bustling city of Dhaka can escape the commuter rush. But beneath the gridlock there’s something more troubling going on: lethal water pollution. A recent study revealed dangerously high concentrations of many different pollutants in the rivers around Dhaka, which are associated with a range of health risks including cancer, diabetes and respiratory problems. This image was snapped by Azim Khan Ronnie.

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The brightly-coloured garb of these fishermen stands out against algae-tinged water, in a striking image captured by Ashraful Islam in Sirajgong, Bangladesh. Pollution from farming and sewage has increased algae blooms all over the world, which in turn can reduce oxygen levels and cause fish to die. 

Photographer Celia Kujala was diving off the coast of Mexico’s Coronado Islands when she spotted this Californian sea lion pup with a hook embedded in its mouth. Sadly, one of the biggest threats to these beautiful creatures is getting caught in fishing gear, including nets, hooks and traps, that can result in injury or even death.

Climate change has made Bangladesh’s monsoon cycle increasingly unpredictable, meaning both flooding and droughts are becoming more intense. In this photograph by Ashraful Islam, a flock of sheep search for non-existent grass on cracked earth in Musapur, in the south of the country.

Looking almost like ocean corals, these fuschia tufts are in fact bunches of incense sticks, which are still created using traditional methods here in Hanoi, Vietnam. First, the bamboo is split, cleaned and dried; then it gets dyed in bright colours; then it’s laid out to dry. This vibrant image captures the last stage in the process, when the incense is collected into bunches, and was shot by Bangladeshi photographer Azim Khan Ronnie.

Discover these beautiful images of the world from the skies

Nemo’s Garden, just off the coast of Noli in northwestern Italy, is the world’s first-ever underwater farm. The sustainable project was started in 2012 and now cultivates more than 40 species of plants, aiming to showcase a more eco-friendly way of growing crops. The submerged pods, surrounded by divers, certainly look futuristic in this image captured by Giacomo d'Orlando.

Notice those swirling streaks of water across the beach? That’s toxic waste coming from the aquaculture ponds – used to farm fish, seafood and plants just inland. Nguyen Duy Sinh took the photograph in Vietnam, which is the world’s fourth-largest aquaculture producer with 53% of the country’s seafood being produced in this way.

In this photograph, taken by Gavriil Grigorov, an anaesthetised polar bear is weighed by researchers in the Russian Arctic. As part of their expedition, which began in March 2021, the scientists have been carrying out tests on polar bears here to assess the impact of climate change on the species.

Since 1963, the stunning Cathedral in the Desert rock formation has been submerged under the man-made Lake Powell. But in summer 2021, it became visible once again after extreme drought led the lake to reach a record-low level, and was captured by photographer Jay Huang. 

In his work titled “The Last Breath”, Kevin Ochieng Onyango shows a young boy hooked up to a plant with a respiratory device – a vivid depiction of what could happen if we pollute our air so badly it’s no longer breathable.

There’s an unexpected beauty to be found in Vietnam’s Dam Vua salt fields, photographed here by Nguyenn Linh Vinh Quoc. The salt is produced when seawater in the field evaporates, leaving crystals on the surface which are raked into piles by workers each morning.

Spanish photographer Roberto Bueno took this shocking photograph near the Rio Tinto mine in Huelva. Seen from the skies, a narrow strip of road divides a saturated yellow-toned toxic water and bright green fresh water.

The mesmerising mix of turquoise, gold and orange in Crimea’s mud volcanoes is nothing short of breathtaking. Shot from the skies by Elena Pakhalyuk, these rare phenomena form part of an ever-changing landscape which includes towering hills, mud lakes and gushing jets of water.

Wind turbines are seen as an eyesore by some, but they cast a stunning silhouette against the surrounding hills of Portugal’s Serra de São Macário in this atmospheric shot. And they’re set to be an integral part of the global transition to renewable energy, with wind power capacity jumping by 75% in the past two decades.

In this eye-catching aerial shot taken by Ashraful Islam, workers harvest fish to be dried in Tarash, north-central Bangladesh. Drying is an important way of preserving fish and makes it more accessible to people on low incomes, but high levels of pollution have recently been detected in dried fish in Bangladesh. 

Riben Dhar’s harrowing image, titled “Working Mother”, shows a small child that has been left in a makeshift cot while its mother works at a fish-drying factory. With foul smells and toxic chemicals, it’s no place for a child, but the mother has no choice if she is to provide for her family.

Roberto Bueno’s aerial image of a chestnut forest near Salamanca, Spain shows how sustainable forest management can work. Here, trees are cut in polygonal sections, with smaller zones left in the middle to help with the natural restoration of woodland.

Iceland meets almost 100% of its energy needs with renewables. In this image, taken by Simone Tramonte, a photobioreactor at the Algalif factory in southern Iceland cultivates micro-algae using 100% geothermal energy. This, in turn, produces astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant that can be used to treat a number of health conditions.

In this image captured by Subrata Dey, a child sits on a ladder in the middle of a sea of plastic bottles at a plastic recycling facility in Chittagong, Bangladesh. There’s a long way to go before plastic recycling is the norm sadly: only 9% of the plastic that has ever been produced has been recycled, and many types of plastic are notoriously difficult to recycle.

Captured from above by Sandipani Chattopadhyay, lines of jute crop are laid out in part of the Ganges river delta in West Bengal. Since jute is natural and biodegradable, it’s seen as a more sustainable alternative to synthetic fibres, and the Ganges delta is the world’s biggest producer of the crop.

The dry season of 2021 in Bangladesh was especially severe, leaving millions of people without a stable fresh water supply. In this photograph, taken by Sultan Ahmed Niloy, a group of women travel to a nearby ditch to collect water in Khulna. Here, the four large ponds that used to supply drinking water have dried up, while high salinity means that wells can no longer extract safe water from underground.

In this photograph by Ziaul Huque, aptly titled Risky Journey, a young boy carries a bag of plastic he has collected from around Chittagong to sell to a factory. In Bangladesh, many young children endure dangerous conditions to collect scrap plastic as a way of making money.

Slicing through the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal in northeastern India, the Damodar River is affected by irregular monsoon and droughts. These have worsened algal blooms, causing a thick green layer to appear on the river’s surface and preventing marine life from absorbing oxygen. This stark image of a boat travelling through the murky water was captured by Sandipani Chattopadhyay.

In a year in which Earth’s hottest month ever was recorded, there have been record-breaking wildfires all over the planet. This photograph, which won Amaan Ali the Young Environmental Photographer of the Year award, shows a young boy fighting off fires near his home in Yamuna Ghat, near New Delhi.

Helping Spanish photographer Antonio Aragón Renuncio to bag the top prize, this harrowing image shows a child sleeping inside a house at Afiadenyigba Beach, Togo, which has been destroyed by coastal erosion. According to the World Bank, 56% of the coastline in Togo, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal is eroding at a rate of almost six feet (1.8m) a year, causing homes to be destroyed and forcing residents to flee. 

Now check out the breathtaking images from Travel Photographer of the Year 2020

In December 2020, the northern Italian province of Modena was hit by severe floods, with residents of the village of Nonantola particularly badly affected. Photographed by Michele Lapini, this part-submerged house casts a desperate, lonely figure amid the surrounding floodwater. 

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