Editor’s Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, along with the solutions. Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative partnered with CNN to promote awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.
A photograph of a lone man walking across terraces in China, rust-red rivers in Alaska and a giant western red cedar are among the winning images in the 2024 Earth Photo contest.
The award – created in 2018 by Forestry England, the UK’s Royal Geographic Society and visual arts consultancy Parker Harris – aims to showcase the beauty of our planet, as well as the threats it faces, from climate change to toxic pollution.
More than 1,900 images and videos were entered into this year’s competition by photographers and filmmakers from around the world. The winners were announced last night at a ceremony at London’s Royal Geographical Society, ahead of an exhibition there showcasing the evocative images.
Photographers Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni took the top prize for their series “Tropicalia”, which documents how Sicilian farmers are adapting in response to climate change. “Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and increased risk of extreme events have transformed what was once the breadbasket of Europe into a testing ground for adaptation and survival,” they said in a press release.
His images show how farmers are having to diversify: some are giving up their fields to solar energy systems, while others are turning to growing exotic fruits, such as avocados and mangoes, that thrive in the now tropical environment. .
“Each inspiring image highlights important stories of resistance, innovation and resilience on the frontline of climate change,” Louise Fedotov-Clements, head of the Earth Photo jury and director of Photoworks UK, told CNN. “The series as a whole serves as an example of the future that awaits the entire continent.”
Other winning images depict potential climate solutions, including Jennifer Adler’s “Corals of the Future” series, which focuses on ocean science and efforts to restore marine ecosystems in the world’s largest underwater coral nursery. The short film “Ser Guardianes Madre Arbol” (“Becoming Guardians of the Mother Tree”), by Marc Lathuillière, celebrates an indigenous community in northern Colombia that fights to protect the rainforest and their ancestral lands.
The works highlight “the beauty, fragility, crisis and change happening in our natural environment”, said Mike Seddon, chief executive of Forestry England, in a press release. “Getting closer to landscapes, wildlife and communities across the planet in this way sparks new conversations and reflections. And it leads us to focus on the creative solutions needed for these environments to flourish beyond our lifetimes.”
Fedotov-Clements added that photography and film “represent a formidable means of raising awareness that can encourage us to adapt, innovate and invent sustainable solutions.”
“From the impact of climate change to inspiring stories of resilience, this year’s powerful edition is sure to inspire stimulating conversations about our environment,” she said.
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