Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

A little girl wearing a face mask dances in front of a toy panda at a shopping area in Shanghai, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, China on June 16, 2020. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

A man rides a bicycle by a graffiti under the “Old Sava bridge” over Sava river in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 19, 2021. (Photo by Darko Vojinovic/AP Photo)

A man carrying a woman wades through a flooded road following heavy rainfall in Zhengzhou, Henan province, July 21, 2021. At least 25 people have died in China's flood-stricken central province of Henan, a dozen of them in a subway line in its capital that was drenched by what weather officials called the heaviest rains for 1,000 years. (Photo by China Daily via Reuters)

A child prays in front of the cenotaph dedicated to the victims of the atomic bombing at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan Friday, August 6, 2021. Hiroshima on Friday marked the 76th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing of the city. (Photo by Kyodo News via AP Photo)

Actors dressed as Father Frost perform in the main building of the Domodedovo airport named after Mikhail Lomonosov in Moscow, Russia, 27 December 2021. Russians are preparing to celebrate New Year's Eve on 31 December and Christmas which is observed on 07 January, according to the Russian Orthodox Julian calendar, 13 days after Christmas on 25 December on the Gregorian calendar. (Photo by Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA/EFE)

A horse is paraded during the Arabian Horse Festival at the Bait al-Arab in Kuwait City on February 5, 2022. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP Photo)

An overview of “Closer”, an art projection by conceptual artist and photographer Wim Tellier, at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on June 15, 2021. Tellier, a Belgian photographer and artist, is known for his installation projects using giant-size photographs. (Photo by James Arthur Gekiere/Belga/AFP Photo)