Changing global environment under the lens in new UN photo exhibition

From the glaciers of Antarctica to the dry river beds of Sudan’s Darfur region to the devastation wrought by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the world’s changing environment is being documented by photographers at a new exhibition at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Eighteen images from around the world, all taken while the photographers have been on official UN trips and activities, have been selected to illustrate the impact that both nature and humankind have on the planet.

Opening the exhibition last night, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it showed “we all have a duty to safeguard this beautiful fragile Earth for future generations.

“By contrasting the beauty of unspoiled nature with the terrible damage disasters can wreak, these photos inspire awe and a solemn sense of responsibility,” he said.

Ahmad Fawzi, Director of the News and Media Division of the UN Department of Public Information (DPI), said the images are just a small sample of the work of the department’s photographers – whether in missions, conflict zones, disaster areas or other regions of the globe.

“This exhibit… visually ‘reads’ from cold to hot, from ice to fire, with glaciers melting to water, images of deforestation and scorched earth, illustrating the dramatic changes taking place in our planet’s environment,” Mr. Fawzi said, speaking on behalf of Under-Secretary-General Kiyotaka Akasaka for Communications and Public Information.