The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony scheduled for Jan 14 next year during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, according to a press release on Nov 7. A jury had elected the 33 finalists from 5,980 entries received from 156 countries across six categories in health, food, energy, water, climate action and global high school – a 15 percent increase in submissions over last year.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE minister of Industry and Advanced Technology who is director general of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, and was COP28 President, said the sustainability awards continue to “honor the enduring legacy of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE’s founding father, whose “visionary leadership in sustainability and humanitarianism guides the UAE’s mission to uplift livelihoods worldwide by fostering development in some of the most vulnerable regions”.
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“This cycle, we received an unprecedented number of submissions, with notable participation from the Global South and youth. In fact, this year's submissions reflect the three megatrends shaping our future, namely the rise of the Global South, the pace of the energy transition and the growth of AI,” Al Jaber said in the press release.
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, chair of the prize jury, said that this year’s prize finalists showcased remarkable steps being taken around the world to address urgent needs “with creativity and determination”.
Finalists from China include Xinjiang Shawan Oasis Sustainable Development Institute, a nonprofit that specializes in solar-powered smart greenhouses that transform desert land into farms under the Food category. Other finalists in that category were ABALOBI, a nonprofit organization (NPO) from South Africa that created a mobile app empowering small-scale fishers; and Nafarm Foods, a small and medium enterprise (SME) from Nigeria.
The Beijing World Youth Academy under East Asia and the Pacific region is a finalist under the Global High Schools group, which offered student-led sustainability solutions. Other finalists from the region in the group were the Te Pa o Rakaihautu school in New Zealand and Votualevu College in Fiji.
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Al Jaber noted these “change makers are tackling urgent environmental challenges head-on, while simultaneously advancing economic progress through innovative solutions”.
“By leveraging emerging technologies, such as AI, carbon capture and removal, tidal energy, precision agriculture, bio mimicry, and climate analytics, they are addressing the needs of the moment while inspiring the next generation to innovate and drive sustainability in impactful ways,” he said.
The Zayed Sustainability Prize has so far awarded 117 winners since it was established in 2008, while 11.35 million people have gained access to safe drinking water, 54 million homes have gained access to reliable energy, 3.6 million people have gained access to more nutritious food, and over 744,600 people have gained access to affordable healthcare.
In the Health, Food, Energy, Water and Climate Action categories, each winner receives $1 million while each of the six winning Global High Schools receives up to $150,000.
