SDG13: Climate Action
SDG13: Climate Action
Every year global greenhouse emissions continue to rise, which is why Sustainable Development Goal 13 is centred on taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. According to the Global Forest Watch the world’s tropical forests are shrinking at a staggering rate, the equivalent of 30 football pitches per minute. In 2018 alone, over 12 million hectares of tree cover (an area nearly the size of England) were lost as a result of human causes.
NASA reports, there are many more indicators that climate change is taking place including a rise in global temperatures, warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, retreating glaciers, decreased snow cover, and rising sea levels. The effect of this climate change is catastrophic for both animal and human life, particularly in coastal settlements below sea level, such as Jakarta, which could be flooded by rising sea levels.
Climate change is now so widespread that it is has become a relevant factor in many of the stories we document. In an article, we recently prepared for The Guardian, Arete photographer Kate Holt covers the multi-faceted problems with protecting the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These forests take up to 120 years to mature and a matter of days to destroy. But the people destroying them are only doing so to earn a living.
There is a careful balance to be struck between the people of the land, the animals that reside there, and the preservation of the rainforest. Although combating climate change is of the utmost importance in developed countries, to the people of many of the worlds lesser developed countries, it is seen as a luxury they cannot afford or do not understand. This is why as photojournalists we must take a nuanced approach when reporting these stories, taking the time to understand the situation and motivation of all parties involved.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.
SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Worldwide material consumption has expanded rapidly, which is why Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 is about ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. It is clear that we, as humans, need materials from the earth to thrive and survive. However, through means of science and invention, the hope is that we can discover new and more sustainable ways to consume making use of less environmentally invasive materials like plastic.
This is why SDG 12 needs support from both companies and countries alike. Companies and industries have long been some of the biggest contributors to consumption and pollution, to get anywhere near achieving SDG 12 it is important that these companies change their ways and give back to the most at-risk communities, around the world.
A good example of this is Corporate Social Responsibility at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which has invested in Lifestraw to bring clean water to 375 schools in Kenya. Through the lens of SDG 12, the benefits of this sort of project are two-fold. Firstly, it allows polluted water to be safely consumed reducing the strain on the freshwater supply. Secondly, it removes the need for plastic bottles with many of Lifestraw’s solutions allowing water to be consumed directly from the source.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.
SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 is geared towards making all types of human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The settlements that are of the most concern are slums. According to the Report of the Secretary-General, although the proportion of the global population living in slums fell from 46 to 23 per cent between 1990 and 2016, more than 1 billion people continue to live in such situations.
Although this SDG is focussed on settlements, it is the lives of the humans who live within them that we must focus on as photojournalists and storytellers. When telling a story, in order to drive change, it is important to create a connection with the reader. For slums, this means covering, in detail, the living conditions, the challenges the people face, the amount of money they require to live on, and more.
Globally, 2 billion people do not have access to waste collection services. This is poignant in our documenting of the Kibera slum in Kenya for The Guardian. The river Nygong runs through the middle of the slum and brings with it tons of human waste. Although the waste situation is dire in Kibera, it is important to think about how to frame the story, bringing the focus back to the people who, despite this, portray a revered amount of positivity and resilience. These stories are as much about the people as they are the landscapes.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.
SDG 9: Industry innovation and infrastructure
SDG 9: Industry innovation and infrastructure
Without basic transport infrastructure, many of the world’s least developed countries face serious challenges, particularly in meeting the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set out by the UN Council. SDG 9 focusses on building resilient infrastructure, which will promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and innovation. This is why SDG 9 is one of the most important of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Resilient infrastructures such as roads, railways, and mobile phone networks act as the veins and arteries of any country, facilitating communication, transporting people and goods and ensuring general accessibility. Properly developed transport and communication infrastructure ultimately leads to a more developed country, economy and society.
In developing countries like Uganda, the annual occurrence of the rainy season is enough to wash away many of the dirt roads, leaving millions of people cut off and sometimes dangerously isolated. We worked with a UN agency to create a video, for a local audience, that highlighted the importance of building new roads in Uganda. When documenting infrastructure projects, such as road building, it can be challenging to make it interesting.
Video tends to work as a better medium for this subject than photography as it tells more of a story. Making use of visual storytelling techniques, such as drones and animation, will create more interesting and varied footage, which in turn should lead to higher levels of engagement from the audience. However, the focus of the story should ultimately be on the challenges faced by the lack of infrastructure and the benefits improved infrastructure could bring.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
Sustainable Development Goal 8 is focussed on providing decent work for all and continued global economic growth. According to the report of the UN Secretary-General, access to finance is on the rise globally. Access to finance means access to opportunities, this is why micro-finance is transforming lives.
Micro-finance, which in this case refers to small scale loans, are giving people across Africa the ability to develop and grow their own businesses without being exploited. Organisations like Opportunity International recognise that there are many people in developing countries who have the skill and determination to make a success of their own business but lack access to any form of finance.
One of the first and most important steps, to boost economic growth and break the cycle of poverty, is to empower people to start their own businesses. As these businesses grow, so too will employment opportunities and as a result access to formal employment for everyone.
We worked with Opportunity International on the Saving Circles Project, which provided small loans to farmers in Mozambique, enabling them to purchase inputs that can increase their production. Our team of photojournalists were tasked with capturing the farmer’s stories and showing the transformational impact this project was having. Our images were subsequently used in an appeal by Opportunity International, raising over £6 million.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.
SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
Societal access to affordable, clean energy is essential for progress in Africa. This is why many NGOs and charities focus their efforts on providing at least a basic electrical infrastructure to communities who can’t get access to the national grid.
Carrying out any task after dark, whether it is doing homework or preparing food, becomes impossible and security at night is a constant concern. Without access to mobile phones or the internet, communities are isolated.
Documenting the theme of this sustainable development goal can prove challenging. When trying to elicit a connection with the reader, a photojournalist should focus on telling the story of all the new opportunities access to electricity can bring. In addition, it is important to capture the emotions of the people who have access to power for the first time.
Any person, anywhere in the world, can connect with these positive emotions captured on camera. Our client for these photographs wanted to show the positive impact electricity was having — and the photos were widely used in company reports and for external communications.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.
SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
According to the World Health Organisation/ UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme Report 2019, 785 million people don’t have clean water close to home and as many as 2 billion people don’t have a toilet of their own. This is one of the many reasons why access to clean water and adequate sanitation is the next sustainable development goal (SDG), set out by the UN General Assembly for 2030.
Without access to clean water and sanitation, the chances of developing disease and infection increase dramatically. Water shortages can quickly become life-threatening situations for many people around the world. Lack of water isn’t often associated with Afghanistan, however, 92% of the population has no proper sanitation and four out of five people have no access to safe drinking water.
While working for MedAir Afghanistan our challenge was to show how dramatically people were being affected by the lack of access to clean water and sanitation. By focussing on how water is used in so many areas of everyday life, from livestock to medical centres; cooking to hygiene, our photojournalists were able to paint a vivid picture of how much help and support the people of Afghanistan required.
This project was produced into a multimedia slideshow for MedAir that was translated into four languages using subtitles as well as being used in their marketing and communications. The photographs were also compiled into a slideshow for the Guardian’s Global Development site.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.
SDG 5: Striving for Gender Equality
SDG 5: Striving for Gender Equality
Sustainable development goal (SDG) number 5 set by the United Nations is gender equality. At Arete we strive to highlight this issue in a way that is accessible, not only to audiences in the western world but also to communities local to where we have gathered the story.
We document issues surrounding gender inequality all over the world. In rural parts of sub-Saharan Africa, lack of services combined with limited infrastructure, expectations of household duties and limited employment opportunities, means that it is normally women and girls who shoulder the burden of looking after their families. According to the UN, collectively women spend 40 billion hours a year collecting water and globally, 33,000 girls become child brides every day.
When documenting gender inequality, it is important to raise awareness around the culture that is causing it. However, a good photojournalist should also look to draw attention to the strength and resilience of the women affected, to avoid reinforcing a societal view that women are weak and inferior.
Following an appeal from the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC), we were asked by Plan International UK to document gender inequality in South Sudan. The photos and stories Arete photojournalists gathered not only raised awareness around issues such as the hunger many of these girls faced but also exhibited their innate strength and ability. The images were exhibited in The Guardian, at the OXO Tower Gallery in London, the MAC in Birmingham and Assembley rooms in Edinburgh. An article, written by Kate Holt, was also featured in the Metro.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.
SDG 4: Quality education
SDG 4: Quality education
Most people around the world can relate to the desire for their child to go to school, or understand the importance of education. Education-focussed stories can often be some of the most powerful. Plus, there is the added benefit that children love to see their photos — and we love to show them!
According to data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 263 million children and youth are out of school. Access to high-quality education is important for every child, and documenting these stories can be very rewarding. When covering the theme of this sustainable development goal, it is important to focus on the positive reactions from the children in school, capturing their smiling faces and engaged minds in action.
Statistics on children out of school should be used to illustrate the problem, portraying education as the solution. As investigative journalists, we must cast a wider net when documenting the theme of education and be conscious of the context. It is important to be aware of the role of the government, local culture, and social context.
Our photojournalists at Arete have a vast amount of experience in this area, working with organisations like UNICEF, UNESCO, Adeso and Team Rubicon UK. At Arete we tell stories that make a difference, through our work with UNICEF, UNESCO and others we hope to help realise equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.
SDG 3: Promoting Good Health and Wellbeing
Sustainable development goal (SDG) three is good health and wellbeing, but as we discuss in our blog on photographing people in medical settings, documenting this theme can be both morally and ethically challenging.
Access to both preventative and reactive medical treatment underpins good health and leads to wellbeing. Many of the organisations we work with, like Jhpiego, focus on improving this. At Arete, we tell the stories of the people who are in need of healthcare but also of those benefitting from newly-introduced healthcare initiatives.
Our photojournalists have worked extensively on this theme, in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and India; particularly around the provision of child and maternal healthcare. This coverage of the Ebola outbreak in the DRC, by Arete photojournalist Kate Holt, was picked up by the Guardian.
With sensitive issues often being discussed, one must understand how to tell these stories in a way that is respectful of cultural practice, preserves the dignity of each person involved, and obtains their consent. When required, a good visual storyteller must also grasp how to capture emotive content, creating a connection between the subjects of the story and the reader, whilst still preserving the anonymity of those in the images.
When documenting health and wellbeing, it is key to show the good and the bad of medical facilities so as to provide an accurate representation of the challenges being faced. As we discuss in greater detail in our article on Solutions Journalism, providing an honest and insightful story to your viewer will garner greater support for your cause; and with greater support, organisations such as Jhpiego can do more to accomplish this sustainable development goal.
In the run up to the first UN summit on the SDGs on 24th and 25th September, we have been publishing a daily blog on how we help organisations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Check out our blogs here.