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The Zayed Sustainability Prize awards
By recognising pioneering solutions and technologies that can change the world, the Zayed Sustainability Prize has rewarded innovators and visionaries whose achievements have furthered the global proliferation of innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions.
Over 352 million people have been directly or indirectly impacted by the sustainability solutions and school projects of the 86 recipients of the Prize winners since the first awards ceremony in 2009.
The Prize fund comes from the Abu Dhabi Government as a way to honour and continue the sustainability and humanitarian legacy of the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, manages the Zayed Sustainability Prize. A dedicated team works on the Prize all year round.
The Zayed Sustainability Prize awards 5 categories:
HEALTH
This category recognises organisations that have demonstrated innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions in the areas of health that include, but are not limited to:
Ensuring access to essential and affordable healthcare
Ensuring access to maternal and new-born healthcare
Ending epidemics (AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis etc.)
Preventing and treating water-borne, communicable and non-communicable diseases
Reducing illness from pollution, hazardous chemicals and contamination
Organisations must also demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan to further deploy their solution and scale up their impact, as well as inspiring others to follow suit by advancing sustainable and human development.
To be eligible for this category, organisations must be small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or non-profit organisation (NPO).
The Prize fund for this category is US$ 600,000.
FOOD
This category recognises organisations that have demonstrated innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions in the areas of food that include, but are not limited to:
Decreasing hunger and malnutrition
Increasing agricultural or other food processing productivity
Enhancing sustainable food production
Organisations must also demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan to further deploy their solution and scale up their impact, as well as inspiring others to follow suit by advancing sustainable and human development.
To be eligible for this category, organisations must be small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or non-profit organisation (NPO).
The Prize fund for this category is US$ 600,000.
ENERGY
This category recognises organisations that have demonstrated innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions in the areas of energy that include, but are not limited to:
Ensuring access to affordable and reliable clean energy
Increasing the production of clean energy
Improving energy efficiency
Introducing new forms of clean energy or other technology innovations
Organisations must also demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan to further deploy their solution and scale up their impact, as well as inspiring others to follow suit by advancing sustainable and human development.
To be eligible for this category, organisations must be small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or non-profit organisation (NPO).
The Prize fund for this category is US$ 600,000.
WATER
This category recognises organisations that can be demonstrated innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions in the areas of water that include, but are not limited to:
Ensuring access to safe and affordable drinking water
Ensuring access to sanitation and hygiene
Increasing water use efficiency
Improving water quality
Organisations must also demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan to further deploy their solution and scale up their impact, as well as inspiring others to follow suit by advancing sustainable and human development.
To be eligible for this category, organisations must be small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), or non-profit organisation (NPO).
The Prize fund for this category is US$ 600,000.
GLOBAL HIGH SCHOOLS
The Global High Schools category recognises high schools or secondary schools, from six global geographic regions that propose innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability projects in the areas of health, food, energy and/or water. The proposed project could be in one area (e.g. water) or a combination of areas (e.g. energy, water, food, and health).
The Prize is intended to encourage students to develop and implement their sustainability ideas and is not aimed at administrative projects or educational reforms at the school.
The award in this category is not given for past achievements but will enable students from winning high schools to implement sustainability projects in their own schools. These student-led projects must demonstrate innovative approaches to address sustainability challenges, and inspire students to take active roles in sustainable development.
The application must be submitted by the students and supported by the school management. The projects must:
demonstrate how they meet the three criteria: impact, innovation, inspiration; as explained in the Evaluation Criteria section of this page;
be able to be implemented and operational within one to two years;
benefit the school community and/or their local/regional community for several years.
In each of the following six global regions, one school will win up to US$ 100,000:
1. The Americas
2. Sub-Saharan Africa
3. Middle East & North Africa
4. Europe & Central Asia
5. South Asia
6. East Asia & Pacific
2. What is the Prize Fund, per category?
The total prize fund is USD 3 million, distributed as follows:
Health USD 600,000
Food USD 600,000
Energy USD 600,000
Water USD 600,000
Global High Schools USD 600,000
(divided amongst six schools; awarding each up to US$100,000)
Regions:
The Americas
Europe & Central Asia
Middle East & North Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Asia
East Asia & Pacific