The Zayed Sustainability Prize, the UAE’s pioneering global award for recognizing excellence in sustainability, has launched a special category called “Climate Action.” This new category is aimed at recognizing and promoting innovative solutions that address climate change and protect the planet’s natural resources.
The launch of the Climate Action category coincides with the UAE’s Year of Sustainability, a national initiative that aims 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, or COP28, which will be hosted in the UAE later this year.
Dr. Sultan Ahmed 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 recognize 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 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Al-Jaber added: “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.”
The Zayed Sustainability Prize was established in 2008 as a tribute to the sustainability and humanitarian legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE. The prize recognizes organizations and high schools that are delivering impactful and inspiring innovations across the categories of Health, Food, Energy, Water, Global High Schools and now Climate Action.
It has become a global platform for promoting sustainable development, with winners and finalists hailing from all corners of the planet. Today, the prize celebrates 15 years of global impact with more than 378 million people around the world benefiting from its 106 winners’ solutions.
The prize rewards $600,000 to each winner in the various categories. The Global High Schools category is split into six world regions, with each school able to claim up to US $100,000 to start or further expand their project.
The launch of the Climate Action category is expected to attract a wide range of submissions from around the world. The Zayed Sustainability Prize is calling for entries from nonprofit organizations and small and medium sized enterprises from now until May 23. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
