This image shows a high concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a significant air pollutant concern, over Bangkok. Vehicular emissions, industrial activities, construction dust, and agricultural burning contributes to the high levels of PM2.5 pollution the city experiences. These tiny particles can penetrate deep into the respiratory system, leading to a range of health issues, including respiratory and cardiovascular problems. The Government of Thailand and local authorities are implementing measures to mitigate PM2.5 pollution, such as promoting emissions controls, encouraging public transportation, and raising awareness about the importance of air quality.
Climatelinks Photo Gallery
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Welcome to the Climatelinks photo gallery. Here you can find a range of climate change and development photos from our photo contest, our blogs, and USAID’s Flickr sites. Submit your photos to the photo gallery here.
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Since November 2021, USAID's Clean Cities, Blue Ocean–the Agency's flagship program to address ocean plastic pollution under the Save our Seas Initiative–has partnered with three coastal municipalities in Peru (Paita, Mancora, and Pisco) to support them in developing and launching Recicla recycling programs. The Recicla programs encourage households and businesses to segregate their waste, which is serviced door-to-door by recyclers' associations made up of organized, informal waste collectors. The first city to roll out the Recicla program was Pisco in September 2022; in its first six months, nearly 2,000 households and 200 businesses joined. This photo shows organized recycler association members collecting the segregated waste and preventing that waste from reaching local waterways, and eventually the ocean.
Informal waste collectors are the foundation of waste collection, sorting, and recycling–they are responsible for over half of all plastic waste collected and recycled globally. In Indonesia, USAID Clean Cities, Blue Ocean is supporting the government to reduce land-based sources of ocean plastic pollution through its national Solid Waste Management Platform. As part of this work, Clean Cities, Blue Ocean is also engaging informal waste collectors in the cities of Semarang, Makassar, and Ambon to pilot solutions to stop the flow of plastic pollution. This photo, taken in May 2023, shows an informal waste worker collecting trash at the Tamangapa disposal site in Makassar.
Most of the over 130 metric tons of waste generated per day in Samana Province, Dominican Republic is discarded in four open dumpsites and many informal dumping locations. The four dumpsites, like many locations around the world, are situated precariously close to delicate ecosystems, coastal communities, and town centers. USAID Clean Cities, Blue Ocean is providing technical support to the national government to clean up the open dumpsites and prevent further environmental damage. This photo was taken during the remediation effort at the Samana dumpsite in July 2022.
In the Philippines, women are leading the way in reducing plastic waste pollution by creating circular economies where waste is used and reused as a resource. This also offsets climate change-fueling emissions. Aling Socorro is one of the Aling Tinderas–waste collection network managed by women entrepreneurs in Manila City–supported by USAID Clean Cities, Blue Ocean through grantee the Plastic Credit Exchange. In 2022, she received a redesigned manual baler fit for her height and build, which enables her to compress the plastic bottles she buys back from the community, reducing the amount of plastic waste leaking into the environment. Part of USAID's gender empowerment strategy is to ensure women can participate in the workforce without added burden.
Gwendolyn Samatanda, a resident of Mbare, Harare, is on her way to plant a tree as part of the reforestation efforts jointly undertaken by GOAL, an international humanitarian response agency, and the local Government authority, funded by USAID's UPLIFT project. This initiative aims to counter the effects of deforestation, curb carbon emissions, restore vital ecosystems, and foster biodiversity.
Sydney Pariwaringira from Mbare District, Harare runs a recycling business enterprise. His work involves packing plastics and paper containers, contributing significantly to reducing pollution and conserving natural resources. Sydney's efforts play a crucial role in promoting environmental sustainability and making a positive impact on his community.
Rudo Tsikira (left) and Constance Takawira (right) are actively engaged in a USAID-funded reforestation drive in Mbare, Harare. They plant water berry trees as part of an initiative to combat climate change and reduce carbon emissions in urban areas. This effort aims to create a greener and more sustainable environment, fostering a brighter future for communities and the planet.
A young man from the El Reposo neighborhood in Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia raises environmental awareness with his art, sending the message that in a world where climate and social challenges are intertwined, resilience is the force that drives transformation. This photo was provided by the USAID Youth Resiliene Activity implemented by ACDI/VOCA.
The image shows two objects providing protection from the rain. One is made in an urban area (the fabric umbrella) and the other, made of hay and bamboo shoots, represents rural creativity. This shows the different forms resilience to climate change's impacts like extreme rainfall can take.
A boy rows a makeshift boat as he looks for recyclables in the polluted waters of the Yamuna, one of India's most sacred rivers. A large stretch of the river is covered with toxic foam, caused partly by high pollutants discharged from industries around the nation's capital.
A man scavenges for recyclables as smoke billows from a burning garbage mound at one of the largest landfill sites- Bhalswa, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India in 2022. Piles of untreated garbage, coupled with rising temperatures, lead to excess emission of methane from such landfills, often resulting in blazes. Hundreds of scavengers including children expose themselves to hazardous fumes sifting with bare hands among hundreds of tons of waste coming daily from across the Indian capital, including biomedical waste risking dangerous diseases ranging from hepatitis to HIV. The Bhalswa landfill dates back to 1984. It is now spread across more than 50 acres and is over 60 meters high in some spots. This roughly translates to 50 football fields and a 17-story building.
Two boys walk through a partially dry riverbed of the Yamuna River after searching for recyclable materials. The Yamuna is one of India's most sacred rivers and the longest tributary of the Ganga in India. Its water is used for a range of activities including irrigation, drinking, industries, bathing, and laundry but due to increased temperatures and a heatwave, the river dried up to its lowest point.
A young volunteer from the Center for Higher Secondary Education participating in a beach cleanup organized by the U.S. Mission to Maldives and the American Center. Volunteers from this school collected 66.1KG of plastic, 9.7KG of metal, and 15.4KG of miscellaneous waste, demonstrating the need to tackle plastic pollution.
The cleanup set the stage for the launch of the five-year USAID Ocean Plastics Reduction Activity in the Maldives under the 'Save Our Seas Initiative'. Focused on diminishing environmental plastics and enhancing integrated solid waste management in Sri Lanka and Maldives, the initiative addresses climate change through mitigation of ocean plastics pollution. Implementing a systems-strengthening approach, the project consortium aims to reduce dependence on virgin plastics, improve waste management, and prevent countless tons of plastic from polluting our oceans.
Stacks of sustainable charcoal produced at Mampu cooperative site outside of Kinshasa visited as part of a scoping mission looking at alternative local species to integrate into agroforestry woodfuel systems to increase the volume of sustainable charcoal supply for urban areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, carried out by the U.S. Forest Service International Programs and supported by USAID’s Africa Bureau in July 2018. Charcoal is the main source of cooking fuel in the the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and an increasing urban demand for it is resulting in forest degradation and deforestation.
Ernestine Tipi leads a group tour at the University of Kinshasa during a scoping mission by the U.S. Forest Service International Programs, supported by USAID’s Africa Bureau, in July 2018. The scoping mission was part of a broader project looking at alternative local species to integrate into agroforestry woodfuel systems to increase the volume of sustainable charcoal supply for urban areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Charcoal is the main source of cooking fuel in the DRC, and an increasing urban demand for it is resulting in forest degradation and deforestation.