APAC News Photo Essay of the Year
Ezra Acayan
“Ezra Acayan’s photo essay offers a haunting investigation of the severe plastic pollution plaguing the Philippines. Ezra documents the overwhelming presence of plastic waste, highlighting the crisis’ scale. His images starkly illustrate plastic-choked rivers; he captures the human toll on communities, from children playing amidst the waste to the anguished expressions of those grappling with the consequences, even picturing where the waste comes from in a series of portraits. Ezra’s work humanizes the crisis, transcending mere documentation to become a powerful call to action. It reminds us that the plastic crisis is a global issue demanding immediate attention and collective action.”
The Philippines is one of the largest ocean polluters in the world, contributing a third of the 80% of global ocean plastic that comes from Asian rivers, according to a 2021 report by Oxford University's Our World in Data. Poverty has led the Philippines to become a "sachet economy" that consumes 163 million sachets every day, worsening marine plastic pollution in the region. The trash is piling up on land, clogging coastlines, spilling into the sea, and traveling to remote corners of the globe, as the country fails to meet targets for improved waste management that it signed into law more than two decades ago. According to Greenpeace, global corporations trap low-income customers in developing countries like the Philippines to buy - and buy often - fast-moving consumer goods in small quantities packaged in cheap, disposable plastics as part of a strategy to drive market share and profits. Break Free From Plastic’s 2022 Brand Audit Report revealed that the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International, Universal Robina Corporation (URC), Philippine Spring Water Resources, Inc., and Japan Tobacco International are the worst plastic polluters in the country. Globally, Coca-Cola also leads the list for five years in a row, followed by PepsiCo, Nestle, Mondelez International, and Unilever – all consistently part of the annual top 10.
2nd Place
Ulet Ifansasti
The global demand for the raw material nickel, a key component in batteries - especially those used in electric vehicles (EVs) - is growing rapidly. Estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) showed that global nickel production grew 21% in 2022 alone. Indonesia holds the world's largest nickel reserves and leverages those reserves to attract investment in the battery supply chain, a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said. The batteries needed for electric vehicles will see demand for nickel outstrip demand from other industries, such as steel production, by 2030. Indonesia alone will account for roughly half of global nickel supply growth through to 2025. To make batteries for EVs, companies need to mine and refine large amounts of nickel. The process of getting the mineral out of the ground and turning it into battery-ready substances, though, is particularly environmentally unfriendly. Open-pit mining and deforestation often lead to habitat destruction, soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity. Across multiple islands in Indonesia, it has meant the disruption of local environments and of traditional ways of living for local communities, who face their lands being transformed. Fishermen complain that the ocean’s temperature has increased as a result of exhaust from the cooling system of the coal plant and their sea waters contaminated by nickel mine driving the fish away. Also complain that currently making a living from the sea isn’t enough anymore.
3rd Place
Kevin Frayer
China’s health care system has been struggling to cope with a surge of COVID-19 infections since the government ended nearly three years of tough ‘zero COVID’ controls. At least 900 million people have been infected, according to a Peking University study, and authorities have reported 60,000 COVID-related deaths in hospitals alone in the past month. Infections have peaked in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai, but a second wave is expected to hit in rural areas with hundreds of millions of people traveling to their hometowns during the Lunar New Year holiday. Health officials are concerned that rural populations tend to be older, and the medical system in smaller towns and villages are not as well-resourced as bigger cities.
