Zayed Sustainability Prize adds new award for climate action ahead of Cop28

Entries are open until May 23, 2023

President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed at the 2023 Zayed Sustainability Prize ceremony in January. Photo: Presidential Court

The Zayed Sustainability Prize has launched a special category labelled Climate Action.

The new category is aimed at recognising and promoting solutions that address climate change and protect the planet's natural resources.

Non-profit organisations and small and medium-sized enterprises can apply until May 23, 2023. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

The launch of the Climate Action category coincides with the UAE's Year of Sustainability, a national initiative to accelerate sustainable development across the country in line with the UAE’s national strategy.

It also comes ahead of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Cop28), which will be hosted in the UAE later this year.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Director General of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, and Cop28 President-Designate said: “As we mark the UAE's Year of Sustainability and prepare to host Cop28, it is more important than ever to recognise and support innovative solutions that protect the planet and people from the impacts of climate change.

"The UAE is committed to delivering a Cop of Action – a solutions-focused Cop that promotes inclusive sustainable development and accelerates the adoption of policies that will deliver across mitigation, adaptation, climate finance and loss and damage.

"The new Climate Action category of the Zayed Sustainability Prize reinforces this commitment by supporting the deployment of solutions the world needs today to keep the Paris Agreement alive and limit warming below 1.5ºC.

“In this critical decade of action, the Climate Action category is a significant addition to the prize's mandate, and we look forward to receiving submissions from around the world. We are proud to encourage and reward innovative solutions needed to turn climate pledges into concrete action, and drive tangible, inclusive and lasting progress for our planet and communities.”

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Zayed Sustainability Prize winners on a mission to create a better world

The Zayed Sustainability Prize was established in 2008 as a tribute to the sustainability and humanitarian legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, the Founding Father of the UAE.

The prize recognises organisations and high schools that are delivering effective, and inspiring innovations across the following categories: Health, Food, Energy, Water, Global High Schools, Climate Action.

The new Climate Action category will further broaden the prize’s reach and effect by rewarding solutions that protect the environment, while also addressing the urgent challenge of climate change.

The prize awards $600,000 to each winner in the Health, Food, Energy, Water, and Climate Action categories. The Global High Schools category is split into six world regions, with each school able to claim up to $100,000 to start or further expand their project.

Zayed Sustainability Prize winners 2023 - in pictures

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Back row, left to right: Siaosi Sovaleni, Prime Minister of Tonga, Aziz Akhannouch, Prime Minister of Morocco, Wavil Ramkalawan, President of Seychelles, Hakainde Hichilema, President of Zambia, Surangel Whipps, President of Palau, Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana, Kasim-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan, Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea, President Sheikh Mohamed, Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, Joao Lourenco, President of Angola, Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique, Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, former president of Iceland and chairman of Arctic Circle, Tiemoko Meyliet Kone, Vice President of Ivory Coast, and Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, pose for a photograph with 2023 Zayed Sustainability Prize winners during the opening ceremony of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. Photo: UAE Presidential Court

Updated: March 30, 2023, 8:34 AM