The Zayed Sustainability Prize, the UAE’s pioneering global award for recognising excellence in sustainability, held its Jury meeting to elect winners for its current 2023 cycle, who will be announced during the Prize’s Awards Ceremony at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), this January.
A total of 30 finalists were confirmed and are now in competition for the 10 awards, across the five categories of Health, Food, Energy, Water, and Global High Schools. This year, the Prize received a record 4,538 applications, marking a 13% increase in entries compared to the previous cycle, while attracting submissions from 152 countries.
The Prize Jury, comprising former heads of state, UAE government ministers, and international business figures, met in Abu Dhabi in October to review the shortlisted submissions identified by the Prize’s Selection Committee.
Remarking on the announcement of the finalists, H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Director General of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, said, “The late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan instilled in the UAE a commitment to inclusive sustainable and humanitarian development, and the Zayed Sustainability Prize continues to honour his legacy by turning this commitment into action. For the past 14 years, the Prize has accelerated the deployment of practical yet sustainable solutions that have positively transformed the lives of over 370 million people.”
“The Zayed Sustainability Prize has played an important role in supporting the UAE’s vision to drive inclusive climate action. The Prize will continue to amplify the UAE’s track record of supporting sustainable innovation across the world and driving progress toward empowering entities and schools who are contributing to global development,” he added.
Many of this year’s finalists proposed sustainable solutions that tackle environmental issues while also empowering local community members by unlocking their entrepreneurial potential. Many of those solutions leverage next generation technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to drive impact.
The Chair of the Jury and former President of the Republic of Iceland, H.E. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, added: “The diverse range of innovations demonstrated in this year’s applications, including inspiring projects envisioned by the youth, reflects the Prize’s continuous ability to bring out the world’s sustainability pioneers by offering them a unique platform for driving transformational change.”
