Environmental Photographer of the Year winners revealed at Cop26

Photo of child asleep in house destroyed by rising tides takes major prize

The winner of the Environmental Photographer of the Year Award is 'The Rising Tide Son', by Antonio Aragon Renuncio, which shows a child sleeping on the floor of his house that is about to collapse, destroyed by coastal erosion on Afidegnigba beach in Ghana. Photo: Antonio Aragon Renuncio / Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021

Winner of the Young Environmental Photographer of the Year Award is 'Inferno', by Amaan Ali, showing a boy fighting a forest fire near his home in Yamuna Ghat, New Delhi. Photo: Amaan Ali / Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021

Winner of the Climate Action Award is 'The Last Breath', by Kevin Ochieng Onyango, depicting a boy taking in air from a plant, with a sandstorm brewing in the background in Kenya. Photo: Ochieng Onyango / Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021

Winner of the Environments of the Future Award is 'Flood'. Michele Lapini photographed a house submerged by flooding after the River Panaro in the Po Valley burst its banks near Modena, Italy. Photo: Michele Lapini / Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021

Winner of the Resilient Award is 'Survive for Alive', by Ashraful Islam, which features a flock of sheep searching for land upon which to graze but finding only dry, cracked soil in Bangladesh. Photo: Ashraful Islam / Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021

'Green Barrier' by Sandipani Chattopadhyay won the Water and Security Award, with a photo demonstrating how irregular monsoon seasons and drought can cause algal bloom on the Damodar river, north-eastern India. Photo: Sandipani Chattopadhyay / Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021

Sustainable Cities Award winner is 'Net-Zero Transition – Photobioreactor' by Simone Tramonte. Photo: Simone Tramonte / Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021

A photo of a child sleeping in a house destroyed by coastal erosion in Ghana has won the Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021 competition, announced at Cop26.

Spanish photographer Antonio Aragon Renuncio won the top prize for his work titled The Rising Tide Son, taken at Afiadenyigba beach in the African nation.

The photo shines a spotlight on the rising sea levels in West African countries, which have forced thousands of people to leave their homes.

Now in its 14th year, the competition displays the most inspirational environmental photography from around the world.

It celebrates humanity’s ability to survive and innovate, and shows thought-provoking images that call attention to our environmental impact and inspire us to live sustainably.

The winners were announced by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, environmental video-on-demand platform Waterbear, Nikon Europe and multinational professional services group Arup.

The Young Environmental Photographer of the Year was awarded to Amaan Ali from India, for his work titled Inferno, showing a boy fighting surface fires in a forest near his home in Yamuna Ghat, New Delhi.

Flood, taken in 2020 by Michele Lapini, won the award's Environments of the Future category.

The award for Sustainable Cities: Net-Zero Transition was won by Simone Tramonte with her picture Photobioreactor in 2020.

Kevin Ochieng Onyango won the award for Climate Action with The Last Breath, shot in 2021.

Water and Security category was won by Sandipani Chattopadhyay with Green Barrier taken in 2021, while Survive for Alive by Ashraful Islam, also shot in 2021, won the Resilient Award.

The competition received more than 7,000 images from about 120 nations. They tell the stories of the climate and ecological emergency and people rising to the challenge.

The judging panel included British photographers Ope Odueyungbo and Alfie Bowen, Norway's Lina Kayser, and The New York Times photographer and Pulitzer Prize Winner Josh Haner.