It is the responsibility of each entrant into the Competition to ensure that they have read and will abide by terms and conditions contained herein (‘the Rules’).  Any entry that does not comply with the Rules will not be published on the Competition website and will be disqualified. Winning entries which may later be found to have infringed any of the Rules, will have their prizes withdrawn. 

The Organisers have the final and binding decision on all matters relating to the Competition. No negotiation will be considered. The Organisers reserve the right to amend the Rules and to waive breach of the Rules at their sole discretion, acting reasonably. 

By submitting an entry, each entrant: 

• they have read, understood, and will be bound by the Rules, and that  their entry complies with the Rules;  

• consents for their entry to be used (including for publication or display)  in accordance with these Rules; and 

• consents for their personal data to be processed as set out in the Rules 

Any queries about the Rules or Competition should be sent to photography@royalcwsociety.org. 

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1. Competition Details 

Commonwealth Youth Photography Competition 2026 (‘the Competition’) is organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society, Commonwealth Secretariat and the City of London Youth Natural Environment Board.  

The Competition is aimed within the Commonwealth and comprises four thematic categories (‘the Categories’). Each category is open to entrants between 18 and 30 years of age at the final deadline date. Winning entrants will be requested to submit proof of date of birth. 

The Categories are comprised as follows: 

1. Human–Ocean Connection – Personal, cultural, or ancestral ties to the ocean, including Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ traditions and knowledge, as well as traditional stewardship of blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses, and tidal marshes.  

2. Hope & Resilience – Stories of protection, regeneration, or community action, particularly from regions affected by sea level rise, ocean acidification and warming, and efforts to build a sustainable blue economy.  

3. Threats & Challenges – Personal or community experiences of marine degradation, overfishing, marine pollution (including plastics), and biodiversity loss, and the carbon emissions from shipping that contribute to ocean warming and acidification, as well as the destruction of blue carbon habitats.  

4. Innovative Solutions – Community-driven or scientific efforts to protect the ocean, including coral reef restoration, marine protected areas, the High Seas Treaty, and the Global Plastics Treaty. 

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Whilst this Competition is primarily focused on oceans and seas, images of inland water bodies are also eligible, such as rivers and lakes. 

Smart phone entries are welcomed and actively encouraged across all Categories. 

No payment is necessary to enter the Competition.  

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2. Entering the Competition: Conditions of Entry 

1. All entries must be received by 17.00 GMT on the afternoon of Monday 8th June 2026 (‘the Closing Date’). 

2. The Competition is open to all Commonwealth Citizens and residents, from 18 to 30 years old, except individuals involved in its organisation or judging or employees of the Organisers or any official partners, supporters, or sponsors of the Competition. 

3. Images must be taken within a Commonwealth Country as defined by http://thecommonwealth.org/member-countries 

4. The entrant agrees to maintain the highest standards in all actions and communications relating to the Competition and not to do or say anything that does or might damage the reputation of the Organisers, the Competition, the other entrants, or the official partners, supporters, or sponsors of the Competition or the Exhibition.  In particular, the entrant must not use any names, logos or other intellectual property rights of the Competition or its Organisers or to make any public statement regarding the Competition, the Organisers or the other entrants without the prior written consent of the Organisers, except for statements of fact regarding promotion of the Competition.  

5. Entrants are not permitted to submit entries that have been awarded any prize, recommendation or other award in any national or international competition at the time of entry. 

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3. Competition Ethical Guidelines 

1. Any breach of the ethics of the Competition as described below will constitute a breach of the Rules. 

2. Entrants are expected to submit entries that are consistent with the purpose and spirit of the competition, including upholding the dignity of humans and animals and protection of the natural environment. 

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4. Entries must not: (a) deceive the viewer or attempt to disguise and/or misrepresent the reality of nature; or (b) do anything to injure or distress any animals, alter or destroy natural environments in an attempt to secure an image for the competition, including portraying captive, exploited or restrained animals or using live bait to capture animals. 

5. Information provided in the summary caption that accompanies the image must be complete, true and accurate. 

6. Entrants are responsible for ensuring full compliance with any laws that may apply and for securing any relevant permissions that may be required for their photography. 

7. If images include recognisable faces of human subjects, the subject’s permission for their image to be used must be secured prior to entry and made available on request to the Organisers. An example of an informed consent form can be shared on request. 

8. If the Organisers suspect that an entry has been achieved through cruel or unethical practices, the Organisers reserve the right to also report the entrant to the appropriate authorities 

9. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) or other digital enhancements is allowed, with consideration to retaining overall authenticity of the image.  The use of AI or other digital enhancements must also be declared in the submission and how they were used. 

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4. Entering the Competition: Submission 

1. Entry into the competition must be made via the official form found at www.royalcwsociety.org/environment/cypc  

2. Each entrant is allowed a maximum of one (1) entry into the Competition. 

3. Each entrant must submit a short prose narrative with each photographic entry between 150 and 300 words. This must be in English and include a brief summary of what the image is showing, why they think the image is relevant to the category and why it is important that the image is published. 

4. Entrants must give details as to how the image was taken and the location where it was taken. These will not be shared with the judges at the time of judging. 

5. Entrants must not include their name in the summary or image or give any information regarding their identity. 

5. Specifications for Submissions 

1. Submissions must be in digital format but do not need to have been taken on a digital camera. 

2. All entries must be submitted as the correct image format as listed on the entry form. Most images should upload without issue if they are JPG format and you will not need to alter the size. If an entrant is having trouble submitting their entry, they should check all images are exported at 1600 × 1050 pixels, minimum 2MB, and a maximum size of 4MB in JPG format. Images should be in sRGB colour space. No borders, watermarks or signatures are to be included. Only files in the listed formats on the entry format will be accepted. 

3. Any entry that cannot be authenticated or is not of an acceptable quality will be disqualified. 

4. The use of AI and other digital adjustments is allowed under Rule 3(8), however, composite images and adding, moving or removing objects, animals or parts of animals, plants, people etc. is not allowed. 

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6. Judging of the Competition, Awards and Prizes 

1. The competition will be judged by an independent panel of expert judges. The Judges will select the winning entries and finalists within each Category and award the ‘Highly Commended’ entries. 

2. The Judges reserve the right to move entries from one category to another where appropriate and with the express permission of the Organisers. 

3. Judges will determine the following awards: (a) 1 x Commonwealth Youth Photography Competition 2026 Winner (c) 1 x between 18 – 30 year old winner of Category ‘Human-Ocean Connection’ (d) 1 x between 18 – 30 year old winner for Category ‘Hope & Resilience’ (e) 1 x between 18 – 30 year old winner of Category ‘Threats & Challenges’ (f) 1 x between 18 – 30 year old winner for Category ‘Innovate Solutions ’ 

4. Only Category Winners will be considered by the Judges for the ‘Commonwealth Youth Photography Competition 2026 Award’. 

5. Prize winners will be notified in strict confidence by Monday 7th September, by written letter, as well as email or telephone. The entrant must not disclose the details of any shortlisted or winning entries to any third party until the official results are announced. 

6. Prizes will be announced later in the 2026 competition. They will be announced on www.royalcwsociety.org/environment/cypc.  

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7. Exhibition 

1. All prize-winning and finalists’ images will be displayed in an exhibition (‘the Exhibition’) at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (‘CHOGM’) in Antigua and Barbuda in November 2026. 

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8. Publicity Related to the Competition 

1. Entrants agree that if their entry is selected by the Judges for an award, they will participate in related publicity and agree to the use of their name and their entry in advertising, promotion and publicity of the Competition and Exhibition without additional compensation. 

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9. Intellectual Property Rights 

1. All entries must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe the rights of any other party nor be defamatory, offensive, threatening, discriminatory, distasteful, pornographic or illegal. 

2. The entrant must either be the sole owner of the copyright in the entry(s) submitted or have secured the written permission of the copyright owner or any joint owners of copyright to submit the entry(s) into the Competition. A copy of any such written permission must be supplied to the Organisers on request. 

3. If the entrant is not the sole copyright owner of the entry(s), they must agree to notify the Organisers at the time at which they submit their image into the competition, providing the names of all copyright owners. 

4. The ownership of the copyright in any entry submitted to the Competition will remain with the copyright owner(s) and the photographer will be credited (eg © photographer’s name). The entrant agrees that the Organisers will not be liable in the event of inadvertent omission of the credit. 

5. The entrant grants the Organisers a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to reproduce, publish, exhibit and communicate to the public, by any means and in all media throughout the world, any entry which has been selected by the Judges and the image selected for a Highly Commended Award via public vote. This licence applies in relation to the Competition and Exhibition which shall include (with the right to sub-license where necessary) any of the following uses: (i) the process of judging the Competition (including the public vote); (ii) display during the awards ceremony and Exhibition; (iii) publication in and on the front cover of a printed Book to accompany the Exhibition; (iv) publication in other magazines or print media which the Organisers (or their official partners, supporters, or sponsors) may produce; (v) publication on relevant parts of the Organisers website, including within interactive elements available for viewing or download; (vi) in publicity materials (including social media); (ii) inclusion in any and all publications associated with the Competition and Exhibition. 

6. The Organisers’ license will last the duration of the Copyright. 

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10. Legal Responsibility 

1. Proof of electronic submission is not proof of receipt by the Organisers. Receipt of entry will be confirmed by the publication of the entry on the Competition website. 

2. The Organisers cannot accept legal responsibility or liability for: (a)  any loss of or damage to any entries submitted into the Competition, howsoever caused or for any other loss or damage as a result; and (b) misuse of images by any third parties. 

3. Non-awarded digital entries submitted into the Competition will not be stored by the Organisers and will not be returned to the entrant after the names of award winners are announced. 

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11. Data Protection 

1. The personal data of entrants will be managed by the Royal Commonwealth Society and the City of London in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 and managed by the Commonwealth Secretariat managed in accordance with its Data Protection Core Guiding Principles. 

2. The Organisers will collect personal data about entrants (and the entrant’s parent/guardian where it applies) at the time of registration, and where otherwise provided, in order to administer the Competition and/or all associated activities. 

3. Entrants will be asked at the time of registration if they would like their contact details added to the mailing list administered by the Organisers in relation to the Competition and will be used for providing information accordingly. 

4. Entrants may contact the Organisers at any time to update their details and/or preferences regarding the permitted use of their personal data. 

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12. Governing Law 

1. This Competition shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law, although if you are a resident elsewhere you will retain the benefit of any mandatory protections given to you by the laws of that country.  For the Royal Society and City of London, the courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference relating to this Competition.  For the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference relating to this Competition.