Environment

We Have the Power: We Are the Change

Magnum Photos reveal stories of hope and resilience around the issue of climate change

Magnum Photographers

Bieke Depoorter This little girl is enjoying the last sun on the Chaguaramas Boardwalk, a wooden walkway for pedestrians with solar-powered lamps that do not effect turtles, birds or fauna and flora. The boardwalk (...)
Bieke Depoorter This house collapsed due to coastal erosion. Cocos Bay, Trinidad. 2014. (c) Bieke Depoorter/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Bieke Depoorter | Magnum Photos
Bieke Depoorter Macqueripe Beach, Trinidad. 2014. (c) Bieke Depoorter/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Bieke Depoorter | Magnum Photos
Jonas Bendiksen A solitary electric light shines by a house of an informal settlement near Gigiri. Nairobi, Kenya. 2014. (c) Jonas Bendiksen/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos
Jonas Bendiksen Pools of runoff water form a geothermal vent at KenGen's Olkaria geothermal power plant. Olkaria, Kenya. 2014. (c) Jonas Bendiksen/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos
Jonas Bendiksen Chemists inspecting the steam at KenGen's Olkaria geothermal power plant. Olkaria, Kenya. 2014. (c) Jonas Bendiksen/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos
Thomas Dworzak 'Peace Island', a slum also named '540'. Most of the residents are former soldiers or members of armed groups who during a demilitarization campaign were payed $540 to lay down their weapons. There (...)
Thomas Dworzak Two women ( Marine Weeks/Moussou Juniors) from this village had been sent to India to participate in a solar energy workshop. Upon their return many households received solar panels. The German NGO (...)
Thomas Dworzak Monrovia, Liberia. September, 2015. (c) Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Thomas Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Jérôme Sessini Traffic jam. Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. November 19, 2013. (c) Jerome Sessini/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Jérôme Sessini View from inside a bus. Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. November 20, 2013. (c) Jerome Sessini/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Chien-Chi Chang Harvesting stage of rice fields. Binh Dinh, Vietnam. 2015. (c) Chien-Chi Chang/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Chien-Chi Chang | Magnum Photos
Sohrab Hura An evening in one of the rehabilitated settlements. Tacloban, Philippines. 2015. (c) Sohrab Hura/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Sohrab Hura | Magnum Photos
Sohrab Hura A newly constructed school building outside Tacloban, made on stilts in case of any future incidents leading to a rise in water levels. Philippines. 2015. (c) Sohrab Hura/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Sohrab Hura | Magnum Photos
Sohrab Hura Homes of people living by the main road in Tondo, the most populated district in Manila. Manila, Philippines. 2015. (c) Sohrab Hura/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Sohrab Hura | Magnum Photos
Michael Christopher Brown Comlurb, the Cia. Municipal de Limpeza Urbana, handles waste garbage management and collection in Rio de Janeiro, including low income communities. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. June 19, 2014. (c) Michae (...)
Michael Christopher Brown The Comlurb Caju organic waste and composting facility site. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. June 18, 2014. (c) Michael Christopher Brown/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Michael Christopher Brown | Magnum Photos
Michael Christopher Brown Landfill, locals pick through trash that has been illegally dumped outside Gramacho. On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, nestled along Guanabara Bay, Gramacho used to be one of the world's largest (...)
Stuart Franklin In the region of San Jeronimo artesian brick-makers use improved technology to reduce carbon emissions by electrically powered ventilation. Bricks are stored for some days before being loaded into (...)
Paolo Pellegrin Street scenes in the eco-district. Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. September, 2015. (c) Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum Photos for UNEP © Paolo Pellegrin | Magnum Photos
Paolo Pellegrin Building facade in the eco-district. Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. September, 2015. (c) Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum Photos © Paolo Pellegrin | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman LED street lighting in Santiago. Santiago, Chile. August, 2013. (c) Moises Saman/Magnum Photos © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman A man installs a LED lightbulb outside his home in the Lo Espejo district of Santiago. Santiago, Chile. August, 2013. (c) Moises Saman/Magnum Photos © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman A shopkeeper lit by LED lightbulbs in the Lo Espejo district of Santiago. Santiago, Chile. August, 2013. (c) Moises Saman/Magnum Photos © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos

Supported by UNEP, a selection of Magnum photographers travelled the globe to photograph the most inspiring solutions to climate challenge.

Produced over a two-year period in the lead up to COP21 in Paris, these images show that local communities have the power to change the world, for the better, and to build a sustainable future.

The work was presented at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris as an exhibition, from November 4, 2015, to January 4, 2016.

Watch the 10 films from each story on the We Have The Power website

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