Abu Dhabi – The Zayed Sustainability Prize got over 2,100 submissions from 130 countries for its 2019 edition, up 78% from its 2018 edition (pictured above), Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported this Monday (20). Over half the submissions – 1,202 – are for new categories in Food, Water and Health.
Formerly existing categories Energy and Global High Schools got 603 and 295 submissions respectively. The deadline for entry was August 9.
Formerly named Zayed Future Energy Prize, with prizes going to alternative energy projects, the award had its name changed and its scope broadened this year. The accolade is named after UAE founder and president Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who died in 2004.
Minister of State and Prize director-general Sultan Bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber said the prize’s expanded mandate further aligns it with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and with the UAE’s own national agenda. “The strong response from those submitting to this year’s prize, across age groups and geography, demonstrates the global resonance of sustainable development as a critical issue of our time,” WAM quoted him as saying.
The countries with the most entries were Nigeria, Kenya, United States and Colombia. Saudi Arabia was the country whose submissions increased the most from last year to this one. Total submissions from the UAE saw a threefold increase.
The Prize usually gets entries from Brazil. In the first half of July, the UAE Consulate General to São Paulo held a dinner event to advertise the Prize to schools, businesses and government organizations, with support from the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
Winners will be announced on January 14, 2019 during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum