Applications Invited for the Zayed Sustainability Prize

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About the Organization

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, a visionary leader who transformed the nation through his dedication to unity, sustainability and humanitarian values. His passion for the environment, social welfare and education laid the foundation for the UAE’s growth as a modern, prosperous country.

In 2008, the Zayed Sustainability Prize was established in his honour to continue his legacy of promoting sustainability, inclusivity and global development. The Prize recognises and rewards pioneers who create solutions that benefit communities around the world, echoing Sheikh Zayed’s lifelong commitment to the well-being of humanity.

About the Grant

The Zayed Sustainability Prize is the UAE's pioneering global award that recognises and rewards small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), nonprofit organisations (NPOs), and global high schools with impactful, innovative, and inspiring sustainable solutions.

The Prize honours the humanitarian and sustainability legacy of the UAE's founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. To date, we have awarded 128 winners and through them we have transformed the lives of over 400 million people.

The Zayed Sustainability Prize awards 6 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 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

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 a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a non-profit organisation (NPO). The Prize fund for this category is US $1,000,000.

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
• Ensuring sustainability of food systems
• 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 a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a non-profit organisation (NPO). The Prize fund for this category is US $1,000,000.

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 production of clean energy
• Improving energy efficiency and energy infrastructure
• Implementing clean energy technology innovation

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 a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a non-profit organisation (NPO). The Prize fund for this category is US $1,000,000.

Water: This category recognises organisations that can 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

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 a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), or a non-profit organisation (NPO). The Prize fund for this category is US $1,000,000.

Climate action: The category recognises organisations 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. 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, the nominated organisation must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a non-profit organisation (NPO). The Prize fund for this category is US $1,000,000.

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. 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 US $150,000:

• The Americas
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Middle East & North Africa
• Europe & Central Asia
• South Asia
• East Asia & Pacific

How to Apply

• Register on the Prize Portal
• Fill out the form for your category
• Submit your application

Submissions Close: June 2025

For more information please check the Link

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Tags Education and Education Technology (edtech) Environment and Sustainability Food, Agriculture and Nutrition Healthcare and Healthtech Water Others