Climate Visuals and The Sunrise Project, funded by ECF, have launched a new collection of images showing the impacts of the energy and cost of living crises, alongside the solutions being put into practice by communities and civil society to drive the transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy.
Climate Visuals commissioned photographers Ingmar Nolting in Germany, Kasia Strek in Poland and Mary Turner in the UK to photograph these stories, and their resulting work forms a new collection of images that are freely available for non-profit, educational and editorial use.
We know from our evidence and experience that imagery needs to embody people-centred narratives and positive solutions and resonate with the identity and values of the viewer. The photographs tell a compelling story of the impacts of these parallel crises, whilst making clear the link to tangible, community based solutions that are happening now in response.
Released with wide ranging Creative Commons licences, the images in this collection form a tangible resource for storytellers, organisers and campaigners to use to bring people together, build awareness of community solutions and pressure those with financial and political responsibility to support a just transition to renewable energy.
A coal power plant in Laziska Gorne near Rybnik is connected to a coal mine Boleslaw Smialy in the same town. Due to European Union restrictions, the mine was supposed to stop coal mining in 2028 and the powerplant was supposed to start transitioning to gas. Laziska Gorne, Silesia, Poland, 14th December 2022.
Ewa Pisarzowska worked for over 25 years in the coal mines salt extraction industry in Rybnik. She lost work during the pandemic and so did her partner, they soon could no longer afford to rent an apartment and for a few months lived at their friend’s place. Recently they rented a studio apartment with central heating, but without furniture. They struggle to pay for food or electricity. Ewa sometimes helps at the “Wspolny Stol” center, she looks for food, still edible but not saleable, in dustbins near big grocery stores. To save money on electricity and still know what is happening in the world she often uses TV as the only source of light in the house. Rybnik, Silesia, Poland, 14th December 2022.
Agnieszka Opalka and her husband chose a heat pump solution for the heating of the new house that they are building. They calculated the costs, efficiency and comfort of the solution, as Agnieszka says entering the room where the pump is located “a modern cave can only look like that”. However they admit paying much more than they predicted for the solution that is definitely for people from the upper financial classes of the Polish society. Ksiazenice, Silesia, Poland, 15th December 2022.
Housing cooperative “Wroclaw Poludnie” was the first in Poland to install photovoltaic panels on the roofs of multi-story buildings on a large scale. The energy from the production is used to illuminate the common areas and the exterior of the buildings, for the operation of elevators and for pumps that maintain constant water pressure in the building regardless of the floor. The first installation was installed on the building at 65 Swieradowska Street in 2016. Since then, similar installations have been installed on 35 multi-story buildings, accounting for more than 90% of all such buildings of the cooperative. Wroclaw, Poland, 13th March 2023.
Radoslaw Gewlik shows data on energy production by photovoltaic panels installed on the roof of his house near Wroclaw. The application allows users to continuously monitor the operation of the installation, it also calculates how much CO2 emissions have been saved by using energy from renewable sources. Pruszowice, Poland, 13th March 2023.
An overview over the village of in Feldheim, Germany, on February 19, 2023. The village has about 130 inhabitants. Feldheim is the first village in Germany to be completely self-sufficient in energy. With the help of wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas, biomass, a regulating power plant and a local heating network, the village covers its own needs. The large amounts of surplus energy generated in the process are fed into the public grid.
The solar park located outside the village of Feldheim, Germany on February 21, 2023. The amount of energy they produce is sufficient to meet the yearly electricity demands of approximately 600 households consisting of four individuals each. Feldheim is the first village in Germany to be completely self-sufficient in energy. With the help of wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas, biomass, a regulating power plant and a local heating network, the village covers its own needs. The large amounts of surplus energy generated in the process are fed into the public grid.
Sebastian Herbst, the managing director of Agrargenossenschaft "Fläming" eG poses for a portrait on the site of the biogas plant in Feldheim, Germany on February 21, 2023. The agricultural cooperative collaborated on a plan to produce heat in addition to electricity in Feldheim. Since 2008, this has been supplied by a biogas plant with an integrated combined heat and power unit. The mixture of liquid manure, corn silage and grain meal needed to generate energy comes from local farmers. The plant is operated by the agricultural cooperative, now the largest employer in Feldheim with 30 employees. Feldheim is the first village in Germany to be completely self-sufficient in energy. With the help of wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas, biomass, a regulating power plant and a local heating network, the village covers its own needs. The large amounts of surplus energy generated in the process are fed into the public grid.
An evening scene in Feldheim, Germany on February 21, 2023. Feldheim is the first village in Germany to be completely self-sufficient in energy. With the help of wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas, biomass, a regulating power plant and a local heating network, the village covers its own needs. The large amounts of surplus energy generated in the process are fed into the public grid.
Elke, 52, displays a banner of the social movement "Ich bin armutsbetroffen" (I am affected by poverty) with the slogan "Poverty is not sexy. Common good for all!" in her apartment in Berlin-Oberschöneweide, Germany on March 6, 2023. Elke, a single mother, completed an apprenticeship but fell ill with depression and has been unemployed ever since. To preserve her financial resources, she saves as much as possible, for example, by turning off the lights and collecting the water from showering in the bathtub to use for cleaning or flushing the toilet. For clothing, she and her daughter rely on the generosity of friends who have similar sizes. Elke's financial situation has always been tight, but the energy crisis has made her situation worse. Every now and then, her ex-husband helps out by shopping for her and their daughter. For almost a year, Elke has been politically active on the issue of poverty, organizing rallies under the slogan "I am affected by poverty" to raise society's awareness of the problem and fight against the stigmatization of those affected by poverty.
Visitors attend an open day at an Edwardian terraced house which has been retrofitted and insulated with Birmingham Green Doors, in Erdington, Birmingham, on May 4th 2023.
Visitors attend an open day at an Edwardian terraced house which has been retrofitted and insulated with Birmingham Green Doors, in Erdington, Birmingham, on May 4th 2023.
