UAE Ambassador highlights global impact of Zayed Sustainability Prize 2027

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Interview with H.E. Dr. Nariman Al Mulla on the Zayed Sustainability Prize 2027

The Zayed Sustainability Prize is a leading global award launched by the United Arab Emirates in 2008 to honor the legacy of the Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in sustainability and humanitarian work. Over the past 18 years, the Prize has recognized 139 winners whose solutions have improved the lives of more than 400 million people worldwide by enhancing access to clean energy, water, food, healthcare, and climate resilience. The total Prize value has been increased to USD 7.2 million, supporting impactful solutions across six categories: Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action, and Global High Schools.

Q: Your Excellency, could you introduce the Zayed Sustainability Prize and its main objectives?

A: The Zayed Sustainability Prize is a global award launched in 2008 by the United Arab Emirates to honor the sustainability and humanitarian legacy of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The Prize recognizes small and medium-sized enterprises, non-profit organizations, and high schools that offer innovative, impactful, and inspiring sustainable solutions. It aims to empower change-makers and support solutions that improve access to essential resources such as energy, water, food, and healthcare, while also strengthening climate resilience and supporting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

Beyond the Prize itself, this vision reflects a much broader national commitment. The UAE has long viewed sustainability as an opportunity to deliver practical solutions to global challenges, working through constructive partnerships that drive measurable impact on the ground. This approach is embedded across national policy - from being the first country in the region to ratify the Paris Agreement and commit to an economy-wide reduction in emissions, to launching the Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.

This leadership was further demonstrated at COP28, hosted by the UAE in 2023, which concluded with the historic UAE Consensus – a landmark agreement by 198 Parties that ushered in a new era of climate action, including a call to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner, so as to achieve net zero by 2050.

Today, the UAE is investing at scale in clean energy, advanced water solutions, and climate innovation - from world-leading solar energy projects and zero-emission nuclear power, to pioneering carbon capture and next-generation technologies such as hydrogen. In parallel, initiatives such as the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036, the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative, and the Abu Dhabi Global Water Platform underline our strong commitment to elevating water on the global agenda – confronting the growing challenge of water scarcity, accelerating breakthrough technologies and investment, and treating water as a core enabler of sustainable development and prosperity.

In this sense, the Zayed Sustainability Prize is not a standalone initiative - it is a direct extension of the UAE’s enduring commitment to advancing sustainable development, both at home and around the world.

Q: What impact has the Prize achieved since its establishment?

A: Over the past 18 years, the Prize has recognized 139 winners and contributed to improving the lives of more than 400 million people worldwide. Through the solutions presented by the winners, the Prize has facilitated access to clean energy, water, food, and healthcare, and has supported climate resilience efforts globally.

Q: What are the main categories of the Zayed Sustainability Prize?

A: The Prize includes six categories: Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action, and Global High Schools. These categories recognize solutions that address key global challenges such as access to healthcare, food security, clean energy, safe water, and climate action, as well as student-led sustainability projects in schools.

1. Health

This category recognizes organizations 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 newborn 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

Organizations 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, organizations must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a non-profit organization (NPO).

Winners in this category receive USD1,000,000.

Finalists in this category receive USD100,000.

2. Food

This category recognizes organizations 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

• Ensuring sustainability of food systems

• Enhancing sustainable food production

To be eligible for this category, organizations must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a non-profit organization (NPO).

Winners in this category receive USD1,000,000.

Finalists in this category receive USD100,000.

3. Energy

This category recognizes organizations 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 production of clean energy

• Improving energy efficiency and energy infrastructure

• Implementing clean energy technology innovation

To be eligible for this category, organizations must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a non-profit organization (NPO).

Winners in this category receive USD1,000,000.

Finalists in this category receive USD100,000.

4. Water

This category recognizes organizations that have 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

To be eligible for this category, organizations must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), or a non-profit organization (NPO).

Winners in this category receive USD1,000,000.

Finalists in this category receive USD100,000.

5. Climate Action

The category recognizes organizations that have demonstrated innovative, impactful and inspirational solutions producing positive results in the following areas:

• Climate adaptation and resilience building

• Sustainable land use and forest conservation

• Nature-based solutions for conserving/restoring ecosystems and natural resources or carbon removal

• Carbon capture, usage and storage

The solution may be an approach, service and/or product that can be directly attributed to a quantifiable positive impact pertaining to the areas mentioned above.

To be eligible for this category, the nominated organization must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a non-profit organization (NPO).

Winners in this category receive USD1,000,000.

Finalists in this category receive USD100,000.

6. Global High Schools

The Global High Schools category recognizes 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. health, food, energy, water and climate action).

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; and

• 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 USD150,000, while 12 finalist schools will win USD25,000:

1. The Americas

2. Sub-Saharan Africa

3. Middle East & North Africa

4. Europe & Central Asia

5. South Asia

6. East Asia & Pacific

Q: Could you elaborate on the value of the Prize and how it is distributed?

A: The total prize fund is USD7.2 million, distributed as follows:

Winners

• Health USD1,000,000

• Food USD1,000,000

• Energy USD1,000,000

• Water USD1,000,000

• Climate Action USD1,000,000

• Global High Schools* USD900,000

*Divided amongst six schools; awarding each USD150,000

Finalists

• Health USD100,000

• Food USD100,000

• Energy USD100,000

• Water USD100,000

• Climate Action USD100,000

• Global High Schools** USD300,000

**Divided amongst 12 schools; awarding each USD25,000.

Q: What are the key evaluation criteria for selecting winners?

A: The evaluation is based on three main criteria: innovation, impact, and inspiration.

For Health, Food, Energy and Water categories, the criteria are:

INNOVATION: 40%

Innovation refers to a novel solution or a transformation of an existing solution that solves a challenge or a need, generates value and brings significant positive impact.

A solution can be a technology, a service or a business model.

The innovation criterion requires organizations to demonstrate that their solution:

• Has a unique value proposition;

• Is disruptive or transformative;

• Is technically and commercially viable; and

• Is adopted by the market.

The Prize does not award early-stage start-ups, demonstration projects, prototypes or solutions that have not demonstrated any impact on the ground.

IMPACT: 30%

Impact refers to a positive change that addresses social, economic, technological and/or environmental challenge(s) and has proven to make the world a better place by improving the well-being of humanity.

The impact criterion requires organizations to demonstrate that:

• Their solution already has had a positive impact on the quality of peoples' lives;

• They are resilient to potential social, economic, technological, and environmental challenges;

• They have good governance by employing skilled people and establishing fair policies; and

• They have a detailed plan of how the Prize money would be used to further increase their impact.

INSPIRATION: 30%

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE, was a pioneering advocate of global sustainability and human development. Leading by example, he placed great value in the pursuit of socio-economic development that meets the needs of both current and future generations.

Continued through the Prize, Sheikh Zayed’s legacy is a source of inspiration for the entire world. The inspiration criterion requires organizations to demonstrate that their solution:

• Reflects Sheikh Zayed’s core values – sustainability and human development that were central to his own approach and actions;

• Can inspire and influence others to advance sustainable and human development; and

• Can further inspire sustainable actions from the wider community by instigating behavioral changes.

For Climate Action category, the evaluation criteria are:

INNOVATION: 40%

Innovation refers to a novel solution or a transformation of an existing solution that solves a challenge or a need, generates value and brings significant positive impact.

A solution can be an approach, technology, a service, or a product.

The innovation criterion requires organizations to demonstrate that their solution:

• Has a unique value proposition;

• Is disruptive or transformative;

• Is technically and commercially viable; and

• Is adopted by the market.

The Prize does not award early-stage start-ups, demonstration projects, prototypes or solutions that have not demonstrated any impact on the ground.

IMPACT: 30%

The impact criterion requires organizations to demonstrate that:

• Their solution is reducing climate risk and vulnerability;

• They are resilient to potential social, economic, technological, and environmental challenges;

• Their solution has resulted in measurable positive impact on beneficiary communities;

• They have good governance by employing skilled people and establishing fair policies; and

• They have a detailed plan of how the Prize money would be used to further increase their impact.

INSPIRATION: 30%

Continued through the Prize, Sheikh Zayed’s legacy is a source of inspiration for the entire world. The inspiration criterion requires organizations to demonstrate that their solution:

• Reflects Sheikh Zayed’s core values – sustainability and human development that were central to his own approach and actions;

• Can inspire and influence others to advance sustainable and human development; and

• Can further inspire sustainable actions from the wider community by instigating behavioral changes.

For Global High Schools category, the evaluation criteria are:

INNOVATION: 30%

Innovation refers to a creative idea, proposed by students, which solves a challenge or a need for the school and/or local community in the areas of health, food, energy and/or water.

The Innovation criterion requires schools to demonstrate that:

• The project is driven by students who work together to identify a challenge and create an innovative solution either by utilizing existing technologies or by developing their own; and

• The students use project management techniques – planning, scheduling, and budgeting to implement the idea, and apply learnings at school to deliver the desired sustainability outcome.

IMPACT: 30%

Impact refers to a positive change, as a result of the proposed project, that improves the well-being of the school, students and/or local community.

The Impact criterion requires schools to demonstrate that:

• The project delivers measurable sustainability outcomes – in terms of access to sustainable energy, clean water, basic healthcare and/or nutritious food in your school or wider community; and

• The project delivers benefits for both current and future students. These benefits may include, but are not limited to, opportunities for education and/or improving technical skills in the area of sustainable development.

INSPIRATION: 40%

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE, strongly believed that a country's greatest investment lies in building generations of knowledgeable youth. He was a firm believer of youth’s active role in the development process by sharing responsibilities to lay foundations for the success of the society. Continued through the Prize, Sheikh Zayed’s legacy is a source of inspiration for the young generation.

The Inspiration criterion requires schools to demonstrate that:

• The project reflects Sheikh Zayed’s core values – sustainability and human development that were central to his own approach and actions;

• The project can be sustained in the long term;

• The project inspires students to become the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders capable of addressing sustainability challenges; and

• The project further inspires responsible actions from the wider community and other schools.

Q: How are the winners chosen?

All submissions go through three-tiered evaluation process.

First stage: Due diligence is conducted on all submissions to ensure that they meet the evaluation criteria of the Zayed Sustainability Prize.

Second stage: The Selection Committee reviews every entry, and the selected entries are sent to the Jury for final evaluation.

Third stage: The Jury meets in person to deliberate on the finalists and elect the winner in each category. Final decisions are unanimous. The winners of the Zayed Sustainability Prize will be announced at our annual Awards Ceremony.

Q: When is the deadline for applications for the 2027 edition?

A: The Zayed Sustainability Prize is currently accepting submissions from SMEs, NPOs and high schools with sustainable solutions until 22 June 2026.