Zayed Sustainability Prize 2027: US$7.2 Million Global Award for Sustainability Solutions

Zayed Sustainability Prize 2027: US$7.2 Million Global Award for Sustainability Solutions

The Zayed Sustainability Prize is the United Arab Emirates’ pioneering global award for sustainability. Established in honour of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, it recognises and rewards small and medium enterprises, non-profit organisations, and high schools that are delivering practical, scalable solutions to some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. For the 2027 cycle the Prize carried an increased total prize fund of US$7.2 million, distributed across six categories. Winners are announced each January at an awards ceremony held during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

This page explains what the Prize offers, the six categories, who fits, the eligibility rules, how the application and evaluation process works, the timeline, the materials you need, and the mistakes that most often keep strong organisations out of the finalist round. Where a specific figure or date could not be confirmed from official sources, that is stated plainly rather than guessed.

Key details

Note on the deadline: the 2027 cycle closed on 22 June 2026, and submissions are no longer accepted. The official closure notice says the Prize has moved into evaluation, with a Selection Committee reviewing entries before the Jury selects the final winners. The official pages reviewed here do not announce dates for a following cycle, so none are supplied.

What the Prize offers

The headline benefit is direct funding, but the Prize is designed to do more than write a cheque. Winners join a recognised global community of sustainability pioneers and gain visibility that can attract partners, investors, and new markets.

The financial awards for the 2027 cycle were structured as follows:

• Each of the five organisation categories, Health, Food, Energy, Water, and Climate Action, awards US$1 million to its winner. Each organisational finalist receives US$150,000.
• The Global High Schools category awards US$150,000 to a winning school in each of six world regions, while each finalist school receives US$25,000.

The official FAQ reports a US$7.2 million prize fund for the 2027 cycle. Its category breakdown lists five US$1 million organisation winners and six Global High Schools winners at US$150,000 each; the closure announcement separately confirms the finalist awards.

For organisations, the award money is intended to help scale a solution that is already working, expand it into new communities or markets, and reach more people. For schools, the funding is intended to implement or scale a student-led sustainability project on campus and in the surrounding community. Beyond the money, the recognition itself carries weight: being named a Zayed Sustainability Prize winner or finalist is a credible, independent signal of impact that many funders and partners take seriously.

The six categories

The Prize is organised around six categories. Five are for organisations, and one is for high schools.

• Health. For organisations with innovative, sustainable solutions that improve access to essential healthcare, help prevent or respond to epidemics, and address global health challenges.
• Food. For solutions that boost agricultural productivity, improve the sustainability of food systems, and reduce hunger and malnutrition.
• Energy. For solutions that support clean energy infrastructure, improve energy efficiency, and expand access to affordable, reliable power.
• Water. For solutions that improve access to clean water, sanitation, and efficient water management.
• Climate Action. For solutions that reduce emissions, build resilience, and help communities adapt to a changing climate.
• Global High Schools. For high schools and secondary schools proposing innovative, impactful, and inspiring sustainability projects in the areas of health, food, energy, and/or water. This category is judged across six world regions.

The six world regions for the Global High Schools category are: The Americas; Sub-Saharan Africa; Middle East and North Africa; Europe and Central Asia; South Asia; and East Asia and Pacific. One winning school is selected from each region, so up to six schools can win in a single cycle.

Who this fits

The Prize is a strong fit if you run an established organisation or school with a sustainability solution that already has a demonstrable track record. It is not designed for early concept-stage ideas, research proposals without deployment, or organisations that cannot yet show measurable results.

Good candidates for the organisation categories include:

• Small and medium enterprises with a commercially viable product or service that delivers a clear environmental or social benefit.
• Non-profit organisations running programmes that measurably improve health, food security, energy access, water access, or climate resilience.
• Organisations that can show their solution has already reached real users and produced results, and that have a credible plan to reach more.

Good candidates for the Global High Schools category are secondary schools with a student-led project that tackles a real sustainability challenge in their community, and a plan for what US$150,000 would let them build or scale.

The Prize repeatedly emphasises three qualities: Impact (measurable, positive results for people and the planet), Innovation (a genuinely new or improved approach), and Inspiration (the potential to motivate others and be replicated elsewhere). If your work maps clearly onto all three, you are the intended applicant.

Eligibility in detail

Based on official descriptions of the Prize, eligibility works as follows:

• The five organisation categories are open to small and medium enterprises and non-profit organisations. Large corporations and individuals are not the intended applicants for these categories.
• The Global High Schools category is open to high schools and secondary schools serving high-school students aged 11 to 19, evaluated within the six world regions listed above.
• Applicants must demonstrate a proven track record against the criteria of Impact, Innovation, and Inspiration. The solution should already be established and delivering results.
• Submissions are accepted in seven languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, which supports genuinely global participation.

On entry cost: the official FAQ says there are no fees to be paid as part of the submission process. That statement applies to the 2027 cycle described on this archived page.

If any part of eligibility was uncertain during the 2027 cycle, for example whether an organisation counted as an SME, the official criteria and FAQ were the relevant reference points. No later cycle is assumed here.

Application and evaluation process

The 2027 entry process is closed, but the steps below document how that cycle worked. Entries were made online through the Prize’s official submission portal, linked from the “How to Apply” section. The official page described three submission steps:

1. Register on the Prize Portal. An organisation or school created an account in the official online portal.
2. Complete the category form. The applicant selected one of the six categories and supplied the requested information in one of the seven accepted languages.
3. Submit the application. The completed entry was submitted through the portal before the 22 June 2026 close. The FAQ says applicants could save progress and return to the form before the deadline, but no additions or changes were allowed afterwards.
4. Due diligence and independent review. After closure, entries underwent due diligence against the evaluation criteria, followed by assessment by a Selection Committee of international experts.
5. Finalist and Jury stage. The published cycle schedule placed the shortlist in August 2026 and the finalist announcement in September 2026. The closure notice says the Jury selects the final winners in September 2026.
6. Awards ceremony. The winners are announced at the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony on 12 January 2027.

The multi-stage structure means the quality bar rises at each step. An entry that cleared due diligence still had to convince the Selection Committee and then the Jury. The FAQ also says only selected finalists are notified at the finalist stage; applicants who are not selected there do not receive a notification.

Timeline and deadline

The Prize runs on an annual cycle. The official schedule and closure announcement establish the following 2027 milestones:

• 26 January 2026: submissions opened.
• 22 June 2026: submissions closed. The FAQ says the period was not extendable and that submissions were not accepted outside it.
• After the close: the Prize entered independent evaluation and due diligence, followed by Selection Committee assessment.
• August 2026: the official how-to-apply page schedules the shortlist stage.
• September 2026: the schedule places the finalist announcement here, and the closure notice says the Jury selects the final winners in this month.
• 12 January 2027: the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony, where winners will be announced.

The next cycle’s opening and closing dates have not been announced on the official pages reviewed for this update. This listing therefore keeps the real closed-cycle deadline, 2026-06-22, and marks the page as a historical reference rather than presenting it as an open application.

Required materials and information

The exact fields in the online form vary by cycle and category, so use the live portal as your source of truth. In general, be ready to provide:

• A clear description of your organisation or school, and of the solution or project itself.
• Evidence of impact to date: the numbers of people reached, the environmental or social results achieved, and how you measured them.
• An explanation of what makes the solution innovative compared with existing approaches.
• Evidence that the solution can inspire others and be replicated or scaled.
• A plan for how the award funding would be used to expand or deepen the impact.
• Supporting documentation such as references, data, or third-party validation where available.

Because entries were accepted in seven languages, entrants could use the language in which they presented their evidence most precisely.

Preparation strategy

The organisations and schools that do well treat the submission as a case built on evidence, not a marketing pitch. A few practices help:

• Lead with proof. Show concrete results before you describe ambition. Judges are looking for a track record, so put your strongest, best-documented outcomes first.
• Quantify everything you can. Replace adjectives with numbers: people served, litres of water saved, tonnes of emissions avoided, cost reductions, yields improved. Explain how each figure was measured.
• Map your entry to Impact, Innovation, and Inspiration. Make sure each of the three criteria is addressed explicitly and separately. Do not leave the reader to infer it.
• Be specific about scaling. Explain exactly what the award would let you do next, and why that plan is realistic given what you have already achieved.
• Pick the right category. A solution that could sit in two categories should be entered where its evidence is strongest and its fit is clearest.
• Write plainly. Reviewers assess many submissions. Clear, direct writing that a non-specialist can follow works better than dense jargon.
• Keep an evidence file ready. If the Prize announces another cycle, organisations that already track results, references, financial information, and supporting documents will be better prepared when official dates are published. No future dates are assumed here.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Applying with a concept rather than a proven solution. The Prize rewards established work with results. Early-stage ideas without deployment rarely progress.
• Claiming impact without evidence. Statements that cannot be backed by data weaken an entry. If you cannot measure it, be honest about that and show what you can measure.
• Ignoring one of the three criteria. Entries strong on impact but silent on innovation or inspiration miss part of what the judges score.
• Choosing the wrong category. A mismatch between your solution and the category’s focus makes it harder for expert panels to evaluate you fairly.
• Missing the deadline or submitting at the last minute. Portals can be busy near the close date, and late materials cannot be added after the window shuts.
• Vague scaling plans. “We will help more people” is weaker than a specific, costed plan tied to the award amount.
• Assuming the dates repeat exactly. Cycle dates shift year to year. Confirm the live schedule rather than relying on last year’s calendar.

Frequently asked questions

Who can apply? Small and medium enterprises and non-profit organisations can apply in the five organisation categories. High schools and secondary schools can apply in the Global High Schools category, which is judged across six world regions.

How much can I win? Each organisation category winner receives US$1 million. Each Global High Schools regional winner receives US$150,000. The 2027 cycle had a total prize fund of US$7.2 million.

What are the categories? Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action, and Global High Schools.

What are the six regions for high schools? The Americas; Sub-Saharan Africa; Middle East and North Africa; Europe and Central Asia; South Asia; and East Asia and Pacific.

Is there an entry fee? No. The official FAQ says there are no fees to be paid as part of the submission process.

When is the deadline? The 2027 cycle closed on 22 June 2026. Submissions are closed, and the next cycle’s dates have not been announced on the official pages reviewed here.

How are winners chosen? Submissions pass due diligence, then assessment by a Selection Committee of international experts. The shortlist is scheduled for August 2026, finalists for September 2026, and the Jury selects the final winners in September 2026. Winners are announced at the 12 January 2027 Awards Ceremony.

What language was accepted for the 2027 cycle? Entries were accepted in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish.

Official links

• How the 2027 process worked: https://zayedsustainabilityprize.com/en/how-to-apply
• Main site: https://zayedsustainabilityprize.com/

This page is an archive of the 2027 cycle. Programme details can change from one cycle to the next, and no next-cycle dates are stated here until Masdar publishes them officially.