STORY

IOC has organised a regional photo contest to showcase the severe impacts of climate change on the island communities in the Indian Ocean

12.11.2021
As part of its activities in the context of COP26, IOC has organised a regional photo contest to showcase the severe impacts of climate change on the island communities in the Indian Ocean.

 

The Indian Ocean is amongst the most vulnerable region of the world, impacted by extreme weather events, including more intense cyclones, heavy rains and more frequent floods or droughts…

 

To demonstrate the impact of climate change on communities of the island states of East Africa, the Indian Ocean Commission organised a regional photo contest in the run-up to COP26 on the theme: Islands facing climate change: challenges, impacts and solutions. The competition, which was set up with the support of the Intra-ACP GCCA+ programme, was opened to amateur or confirmed photographers from Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zanzibar. The aim was to raise awareness of the public at large about the visible effects of climate change on the environment in the islands. It also intended to highlight the local solutions implemented by communities, civil society or public actors.

 

More than 80 photographers from IOC Region responded to the call, with images supported by a short story telling. Participants successfully captured the visible effects of climate change, for instance by showing: the consequences of drought in Madagascar, coastal erosion in Mauritius and the Comoros, or rising sea levels in the Seychelles. Other images, focused more on solutions by highlighting, in particular: reforestation or mangrove plantation projects or solar electricity production.

 

To select the winners of the contest, the IOC brought together an independent jury of five experts involved in environmental protection, climate action or image professionals. In addition to the three (3) main winners of the contest, who were officially announced at the beginning of COP26, the jury selected 45 other photographs. All the nominated pictures will be published in a book entitled “Islands facing the climate challenge“, which will contribute to the advocacy of the Indian Ocean Island States for ambitious climate action.

 

On the occasion of this contest, the IOC Secretary General, Prof. Vêlayoudom Marimoutou, highlighted the urgency of this action: “The participants of the IOC Intra-ACP GCCA+ contest open our eyes to what is happening in our islands.  What our populations are experiencing with each extreme episode is in a way the tragic trailer of what the whole planet is condemned to experience if we do not all act, strongly and now. The challenge is global. We need to take it collectively.”

 

Click here to discover the winners of the competition.