The photo contest helps amplify the voices of regional storytellers during the annual Global Development Conference.
What was the 2024 Climate Photo Essay Contest about?
Impact, Challenges and Solutions in My Community
The annual Global Development Conference (GDC) Climate Photo Essay Contest invited participants to share their unique perspectives on one of the world’s most pressing issues: climate change. Following the success of the 2023 contest on biodiversity, the 2024 edition embraced a new theme, challenging photographers to capture the resilience, innovation, and impact of climate change on communities. The contest harnessed the power of photography to inspire and inform, spotlighting the realities of climate change and sparking conversations to drive positive change.
Whether seasoned photographers or enthusiastic amateurs, participants were encouraged to use their lenses to tell compelling stories and contribute to the global dialogue on building a more sustainable future through the 2024 theme: Impact, Challenges, and Solutions in My Community.
First Prize: The winner will have the opportunity to join WWF-PACIFIC on a photography expedition at an incredible natural site in Fiji.
The top three winning entries were showcased at GDC 2024, received certificates of achievement and were featured on official communication channels.
Winning Entries from the 2024 Climate Photo Essay Contest
1st Place
Muhammad Amdad Hossain
Title: Flood Crisis in Bangladesh
The Bangladesh flooding is a continuing disaster of nature brought about by heavy monsoon rains and surges of water from upstream, northeast India. It annually wreaks havoc on rural and urban areas of the country, submerging as much as 30% of it. Whole communities get swallowed up by water, with houses, roads, and farmland disappearing beneath its floodwaters. Collapsed sewer systems and power outages only cause more chaos, leaving millions to languish without food, water, and electricity. The poor are the worst hit, as they live in flood-prone areas and are not well equipped with resources to defend against disasters. In districts like Kurigram, Feni, and Chittagong, which have been worst hit by the floods, all the villages are submerged in water. This is forcing many families to seek shelter in schools and public buildings, where their condition has rendered them precarious. Further, due to a scarcity of clean drinking water, various waterborne diseases started to spread quickly and further deepened the crisis. This photo essay represents the critical floods of 2022, 2023, and 2024 that outline the destruction of homes and livelihoods, capturing the resilience of Bangladeshi citizens in the wake of these yearly disasters.
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2nd Place
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan
Title: The Blue Fig
My photographs, created under the theme of The Blue Fig, delve into the profound and devastating effects of global warming, especially in vulnerable regions like Bangladesh. As the planet heats up, some areas experience subtle shifts, while others, such as the coastal communities of Bangladesh, are caught in the relentless grip of natural calamities like floods, storm surges, and rising sea levels. The Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a UNESCO World Heritage site serve as a striking symbol of this vulnerability. My images capture not only its immense natural beauty but also the looming threats it faces—escalating sea levels and severe weather events. These photographs aim to humanise the tragedy unfolding as the forest and its inhabitants, including the endangered Bengal tiger, are pushed closer to extinction. Through visual storytelling, I document the daily struggles of the people whose lives are intricately tied to the Sundarbans. From climate migrants seeking refuge in overcrowded urban areas to women battling health crises linked to rising salinity, my work reflects the urgent need for global climate action to protect both human lives and this fragile ecosystem.
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3rd Place
Fabeha Monir
Title: The Land of Despair
The photographs in The Land of Despair powerfully portray the harsh realities facing Bangladesh’s coastal communities as they battle the impacts of climate change. Through visual storytelling, these images capture the transformation of the Ganges and Brahmaputra deltas—once sources of life and sustenance—now becoming saltier and more hostile, threatening the livelihoods and futures of millions. At the heart of this story are the women whose lives have been deeply altered by the climate crisis. The mangroves of the Sundarbans are shrinking, and as rising sea levels erode land and homes, these women face compounding struggles. Climate change has amplified societal pressures, forcing young girls into early marriages, causing rising rates of health issues like uterus cancer, and intensifying poverty and displacement. The stories of Nasima, Fahima, and others who married at tender ages highlight the generational toll of environmental degradation. These photographs serve as both a testimony and a plea, emphasising that climate change is not a distant or abstract issue but a daily fight for survival. The women in these images represent the resilience of Bangladesh, calling for urgent global action to mitigate the crisis and protect the most vulnerable.
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ADVISORY BOARD
REBECCA CONWAY PHOTOGRAPHER
Rebecca Conway is a photographer based in South Asia who focuses on stories about conflict, climate, and minority communities. She photographs for a range of international publications and is a regular contributor to Getty Images. Her documentary photography has been recognised by the IWMF’s Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, the Camille Lepage Award, the Marilyn Stafford Fotoreportage Award, the Biennial Grant and the Getty Images Editorial Grant, among others.
SANTIAGO SAINZ-TRÁPAGA PHOTOGRAPHER
Revisit the 2023 Winning Entries
Biodiversity and Development Through the Lens: Photo Contest
