A photo illustrating the impact of rising sea-levels in West African countries has won top prize in Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021.

The unsettling scene shows a child sleeping in the ruins of his house, which has been destroyed by coastal erosion. Rising Tide Sons was taken on Afiadenyigba beach in Ghana by Spanish photographer Antonio Aragón Renuncio.

His picture captures the very real scenario which has already forced thousands of people to leave their homes.

“If you have your eyes wide open, many stories and many problems appear,” says Renuncio. “In many cases with collateral issues related to the environment.

“This is one of them. Years ago, I saw the consequences of this problem and I wanted to go back and tell the story in depth.”

He says photography is necessary to hold governments to account, “If there is no graphic document of the problem, the problem doesn´t exist.”

Water was a common theme across the 7,000 entries from around the world. Two additional winners in their categories were:

• Flood by Michele Lapini, showing a house submerged by floodwaters from the Panaro River in the Po valley, Italy, which won the prize for Environments of the Future

• Green Barrier by Sandipani Chattopadhyay, which illustrates the impact of algal blooms on habitats on the Damodar River in West Bengal, India, and won the award for Water and Security

Winner of the Young Environmental Photographer of the Year award was Amaan Ali, a freelance photographer from India.

The competition’s winners were announced at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland by the Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management (CIWEM) and Waterbear, an interactive video and digital platform dedicated to supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The awards were also supported by optics technology company Nikon Europe and environmental consultancy Arup.

Now in its 14th year, Environmental Photographer of the Year brings attention to some of the world’s most inspirational photography. The annual competition provides an international platform to raise awareness for the environmental issues that put our planet at risk.