The Zayed Sustainability Prize, the UAE’s prestigious award dedicated to recognizing innovative solutions addressing global challenges, has announced its 2025 finalists. This year’s announcement follows an extensive evaluation by a distinguished jury, highlighting the creative and impactful projects contributing to sustainability across multiple sectors. The winners will be revealed at the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony on January 14, 2025, during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, a significant event that underscores the UAE’s commitment to fostering sustainable practices worldwide.
A Record Number of Submissions
This year’s competition saw an impressive 5,980 submissions across six categories: Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action, and Global High Schools, marking a 15% increase in entries compared to the previous year. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Director General of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, and COP28 President, emphasized that this increase reflects a growing global awareness of sustainability issues and an inspiring response from innovators, particularly from the Global South and youth.
Celebrating Innovation and Impact
Dr. Al Jaber noted that the 33 finalists exemplify extraordinary innovation and impact. “The Zayed Sustainability Prize continues to honor the enduring legacy of Sheikh Zayed, whose visionary leadership in sustainability and humanitarianism guides the UAE’s mission to uplift livelihoods worldwide by fostering development in some of the most vulnerable regions,” he stated.
The finalists are not only addressing urgent environmental challenges but also advancing economic progress through innovative solutions. Their initiatives leverage emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, carbon capture and removal, tidal energy, precision agriculture, biomimicry, and climate analytics. This commitment to innovation reflects the three megatrends shaping the future: the rise of the Global South, the rapid pace of the energy transition, and the growth of AI.
Transformative Impact of Past Winners
The Zayed Sustainability Prize has made a significant impact since its inception, with 117 winners to date. These initiatives have collectively improved the lives of over 11.35 million people by providing access to safe drinking water, empowered 54 million homes with reliable energy, improved nutrition for 3.6 million people, and offered affordable healthcare solutions to over 744,600 individuals. This track record highlights the Prize’s role in fostering sustainable development and addressing global challenges effectively.
Spotlight on the 2025 Finalists
This year’s finalists span diverse sectors, each contributing uniquely to global sustainability. Here’s a closer look at the finalists in the Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action, and Global High Schools categories:
Health Category
The Health finalists are dedicated to delivering quality healthcare services to underserved and remote communities. They include:
- Periwinkle Technologies (India): Develops a portable, AI-enabled cervical cancer screening device that provides results in just 30 seconds.
- Rology (Egypt): Created a 24/7 AI-assisted teleradiology platform that integrates with hospital systems to ensure prompt and accurate diagnoses.
- Telemedan (Chad): Deploys solar-powered, internet-connected medical kiosks to offer affordable healthcare in remote areas.
Food Category
Focusing on empowering small-scale producers and promoting sustainable food practices, the Food finalists are:
- ABALOBI (South Africa): Developed a mobile app and marketplace that empowers small-scale fishers to log their catches and sell directly to consumers.
- Nafarm Foods (Nigeria): Designs scalable hybrid solar food dryers that preserve food while reducing CO2 emissions.
- Xinjiang Shawan Oasis Sustainable Development Institute (China): Specializes in solar-powered smart greenhouses that transform desert land into productive farms.
Energy Category
The Energy finalists are dedicated to improving energy efficiency and enhancing access to clean energy. They include:
- D-Olivette Global Enterprise (Nigeria): Develops an IoT and AI-assisted smart waste management solution that improves collection efficiency by 40%.
- Palki Motors Limited (Bangladesh): Manufactures local, low-cost electric cars with solar-powered battery swap stations.
- Turbulent (Belgium): Creates cost-effective, eco-friendly vortex hydropower turbines with 60% efficiency.
Water Category
These finalists implement solutions that optimize water use and improve access to clean drinking water:
- Elman Teknoloji Ltd (Türkiye): Uses sensors to optimize water use in irrigation and agriculture, reducing labor costs by 80%.
- High Atlas Foundation (Morocco): Provides a solar-powered water pumping system for optimized groundwater extraction.
- SkyJuice Foundation Inc. (Australia): Develops low-cost, easy-to-deploy water filters that provide clean drinking water without chemicals, pumps, or external energy sources.
Climate Action Category
The Climate Action finalists focus on advancing carbon capture, ecosystem restoration, and climate resilience. They include:
- Distant Imagery (UAE): Specializes in AI-powered drones for environmental monitoring, seed planting, and habitat restoration.
- Hyera Inc. (USA): Developed a carbon capture process to remove pollutants from water by converting agricultural and forest waste into activated carbon.
- OpenMap Development Tanzania (Tanzania): Implements a flood management solution that combines indigenous knowledge with geospatial data.
Global High Schools Category
The Global High Schools finalists showcase project-based, student-led sustainability solutions, divided into six regions:
- The Americas:
- Centro de Estudios Tecnológicos del Mar 07 (Mexico)
- Institución Educativa San Nicolás de Tolentino (Colombia)
- Mulgrave School (Canada)
- Sub-Saharan Africa:
- Mpesa Foundation Academy (Kenya)
- Sakafia Islamic Senior High School (Ghana)
- St Kizito High School Namugongo (Uganda)
- Middle East & North Africa:
- Benlahrech Said High School (Algeria)
- Merryland International School Abu Dhabi (UAE)
- Obour STEM School (Egypt)
- Europe & Central Asia:
- Baku Modern Educational Complex (Azerbaijan)
- Gebze Bahçeehr Science & Technology High School (Türkiye)
- Presidential School in Tashkent (Uzbekistan)
- South Asia:
- Faafu Atoll Education Centre (Maldives)
- Girls Higher Secondary School Khaplu (Pakistan)
- Janamaitri Multiple Campus (Nepal)
- East Asia & the Pacific:
- Beijing World Youth Academy (China)
- Te Pā o Rākaihautū (New Zealand)
- Votualevu College (Fiji)
In the Health, Food, Energy, Water, and Climate Action categories, each winner will receive $1 million. The six winning Global High Schools will each receive up to $150,000 to support their initiatives.
Conclusion
The Zayed Sustainability Prize plays a crucial role in empowering innovators and changemakers globally. By celebrating these finalists and their remarkable projects, the Prize not only honors the legacy of Sheikh Zayed but also reinforces the UAE’s commitment to sustainability and humanitarianism. As the world faces increasingly urgent environmental challenges, the solutions presented by these finalists offer hope and inspiration for a more sustainable future. With the winners set to be announced in January 2025, the anticipation builds for the recognition of these pioneering efforts, which are paving the way for innovative solutions to global challenges.
