Each of the photos highly commended in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition could be a freeze-frame from some mini drama.
In one shot, a lioness peers over the edge of a rock and faces down a cobra; in another, a sloth hugs the post of a barbed wire fence as if their life depends on it; in another, a lone elephant wades through piles of multicolored rubbish at a waste disposal site.
The Natural History Museum in London, which organizes the annual photography competition, said it received a record-breaking 60,636 entries from photographers around the world this year.
Judges will whittle these down to the 100 images that will feature in the museum's exhibition before announcing the category winners as well as the Grand Title and Young Grand Title awards on October 14.
The photos were taken all around the world and depict scenes from every angle – from the air, underwater or on the ground.
Read more at the link in @cnntravel's bio.
📸: Bertie Gregory; Ralph Pace; Marina Cano; Gabriella Comi; Sitaram Raul; Leana Kuster; Amit Eshel; Emmanuel Tardy; Lakshitha Karunarathna
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Global negotiations at COP30 in Belém have accelerated momentum toward decarbonising the built environment through definitive timelines for ending fossil fuel use. The shift transforms sustainable construction from voluntary ambition into a structural requirement for net zero carbon and net zero whole life carbon outcomes. Policymakers are converging around frameworks that demand whole life carbon assessment and lifecycle assessment to account for embodied carbon across sustainable building design, low carbon construction materials and circular economy in construction principles.
Funding imbalances remain acute. Only a fraction of climate finance supports environmental sustainability in construction and resilient infrastructure, leaving gaps in life cycle cost modelling and resource efficiency in construction. Addressing this shortfall is critical to accelerating carbon footprint reduction and life cycle thinking in construction that ensures buildings can adapt to climatic extremes while achieving carbon neutral construction.
Government proposals linking climate, biodiversity and land use through unified policy instruments indicate an evolution toward circular construction strategies and eco-design for buildings that integrate sustainable material specification and environmental product declarations (EPDs). These measures align with BREEAM and the forthcoming BREEAM v7 standards, reinforcing quantitative accountability in green construction and sustainable building practices.
In the United Kingdom, scrutiny from Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee challenges the misconception that regulation limits housing delivery. Its evidence underscores that low carbon design and green infrastructure are enablers of innovation, not barriers. It signals a policy turning point toward sustainable urban development and eco-friendly construction anchored in end-of-life reuse in construction and building lifecycle performance metrics.
The trajectory is apparent: whole life carbon accounting, embodied carbon in materials tracking and circular economy integration are reshaping global market expectations. Sustainable design decisions are becoming quantifiable obligations, ensuring every low carbon building advances environmental sustainability in construction and measurable carbon footprint of construction reductions consistent with decarbonising the built environment.
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