Submissions open for Zayed Sustainability Prize

High school students, small-and-medium enterprises and nonprofit organizations aspiring to make a difference in the world of sustainability have a chance to showcase their ideas and win up to $1 million as the Zayed Sustainability Prize (ZSP).

The ZSP, the United Arab Emirates' pioneering global sustainability and humanitarian award, is currently accepting submissions on its online portal for the 2025 cycle, with a June 23 deadline. The total prize amount, covering six categories, has been increased from $3.6 million to $5.9 million, rewarding nearly $1 million to each winner.

Interested groups with sustainable solutions are being invited to submit entries for consideration in one of the six categories of Heath, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action and Global High Schools.

Within the Global High Schools category, which is split into six world regions, each school can claim up to $150,000 to start or further expand their project. The six world regions of the Global High Schools category are The Americas, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and East Asia and Pacific.

In the category, the projects should be led by students, and must demonstrate innovative approaches to address sustainability challenges

The award requires organizations to prove they are improving access to essential products or services in their intended communities, including implementation of a long-term vision for better living and working conditions.

To encourage a broader range of organizations and high schools to participate, the prize will be accepting submissions in multiple languages, including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese "to ensure that innovative solutions from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds can be recognized", according to the ZSP website.

The evaluation of each submission to the prize consists of a rigorous, three-stage process. First, due diligence is conducted on all submissions to ensure that they meet the evaluation criteria of impact, innovation, and inspiration. This identifies the qualified entries and results in the selection of eligible candidates.

Evaluations are then undertaken by a selection committee consisting of category-specific panels of independent international experts. From this shortlist of candidates, the finalists are chosen and then sent to the prize jury who unanimously elect the winners across all six categories.

Last year, Beijing No 35 High School's students Tang Yingxi, 17, and Jiang Huanlin, 18, along with their teacher Peng Minjie, were recognized at the 28th Conference of the Parties, or COP28, climate summit in Dubai under the Global High School awards category in East Asia and the Pacific for their vacuum glass solar PV panels.

The panels could insulate heat and sound, and generate electricity simultaneously and could also be applied to electric cars for emergency electricity generation.

In 2017, Li Junfeng, then director of China's National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, was awarded a "lifetime achievement" with a $50,000 prize in recognition of his role in raising environmental awareness in China and in promoting renewable energy, green and clean technology across all industries in the country and beyond for over three decades.

Winners of the Zayed Sustainability Prize will be announced at an awards ceremony at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

The ZSP aims to perpetuate the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founding father of the UAE, by honoring and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, nonprofit organizations and secondary schools that offer sustainable solutions to address challenges in health, food, energy, water and climate.

For over 15 years, the prize has helped the lives of 384 million people worldwide through the innovative solutions presented by its 117 winners.