Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer Of The Year 2016 Shortlist

From Tibetan monks playing basket ball with ice thawing high up in the Himalayas, to the pollution that hides behind the Taj Mahal, here’s pick from 60 exceptional environmental photographs, by photographers and filmmakers from 70 countries, that will go on show at the Royal Geographical Society in London from 29 June to 21 August. The winners will be announced on 28 June.

Transhumance in Spain by Susana Girón. Transhumance is a centuries old tradition of moving livestock many miles in search of better pasture in winter and summer. Above, the Alarcon family are taking their sheep from their home in Fatima (Granada) to Las Navas de San Juan (Jaen), a 124-mile journey on foot. More than 100 Spanish families continue the transhumance tradition every year. (Photo by Susana Girón/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Solar Portraits, India, by Ruben Salgado Escudero. Villagers trap fish using cone-shaped baskets and solar light in Odisha. Fewer than half of the state’s 42 million residents use grid electricity. Roughly 1.1 billion people in the world live without access to electricity, and close to a quarter of them are in India. The portrait was set up using solar lights as the only source of illumination. (Photo by Ruben Salgado Escudero/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Geothermal Energy, Iceland, Larry Louie. Over 90% of the homes in Iceland are heated by geothermal energy and powered by hydro electricity. With the effects of global warming, rapidly melting glaciers in Iceland are providing an incredible amount of hydro energy. But harvesting power from nature is not without environmental consequences. (Photo by Larry Louie/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Seaweed Farming in Malaysian Borneo by Eric Madeja. Seaweed farming has been heavily promoted to be an alternative, stable and sustainable income for fisherman in the Semporna region, taking pressure off the overfished reefs. (Photo by Eric Madeja/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Gravel Workmen of Chittagong, Bangladesh, by Faisal Azim. Gravel workmen look through a glass window at a gravel-crushing yard in Chittagong. Full of dust and sand, it is an extremely unhealthy environment for working, but still hundreds of people work here for their livelihoods. (Photo by Faisal Azim/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Life in Boiler, West Bengal, India, by Sudipta Dutta Chowdhury. Unloading finished product in the morning. These units burn and boil shaving dust (a by-product of finished leather products), flesh linings and trimmings to make fertiliser and fish feed in Kolkata. The furnaces belch out thick smoke continuously, contributing to Kolkata’s poor air quality. (Photo by Sudipta Dutta Chowdhury/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Hydroponics at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, UK, by Guy Bell. The future of food? Hydroponic plants on the Rocket Science stand are being developed for use in space and as one of the many ways to feed an ever-expanding population on Earth. (Photo by Guy Bell/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Floods in West Yorkshire, UK, by Steve Morgan. On Boxing Day 2015, a thriving former mill town in the Calder valley, Hebden Bridge, was flooded. Sirens echoed around the valley at 7.30am alerting sleeping residents to the rising waters about to engulf the town. (Photo by Steve Morgan/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Behind the Taj Mahal, India, by Mustafa AbdulHadi. The early morning silhouette of Taj forms a backdrop to a garbage-strewn bank of the Yamuna river in Agra where a man scans the rubbish for valuables. (Photo by Mustafa AbdulHadi/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)