The British Council, the British High Commission and the Embassy of Italy, organised a photography competition on climate change, in cooperation with Drik Picture Library Bangladesh, Picture People UK and Fondazione UniVerde, Italy. The aim of this competition was to raise awareness of local climate change issues among young people in Bangladesh via the medium of visual arts, in the run up to, and beyond, the COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021.

The climate change crisis is now widely recognised as one of the greatest existential threats to humanity. Its impact is already tangible across a range of social, economic, political and environmental areas. Addressing the impact of climate change has accordingly become a cross-cutting priority for governments across the globe, including those disproportionately affected in developing countries such as Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh is currently chairing the Climate Vulnerable Forum and is openly prioritising the climate change agenda.

For the British Council, the British High Commission and the Italian Embassy, a key priority lies in ensuring that youth voices are articulated, heard, and empowered to engage in discussions on addressing and mitigating the impact of climate change, while also ensuring long-term youth engagement, participation and the development of expertise and skills to support their ability to provide and deliver on climate change solutions.

With the theme A Better Tomorrow, the competition was open for submission in August, with three categories – My Beautiful Planet, Planet in Crisis, and Hope for the Planet. Around 2100 entries were submitted by 433 youth across Bangladesh. A panel of reputed international judges from Bangladesh, the UK and Italy selected 30 finalists and from among these the winners were announced.

A virtual ceremony to announce the winners took place on 27 September in the presence of HE Robert Chatterton Dickson, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh; HE Enrico Nunziata, Ambassador of Italy in Dhaka; Tom Miscioscia, Director Bangladesh, British Council, Shahidul Alam, Managing Director, Drik Picture Library Ltd Bangladesh; Nick Danziger, Director, Picture People; and Giuseppe Di Duca Director, Fondazione UniVerde, Italy.