Zayed Sustainability Prize Reveals 2027 Finalists Following Record-Breaking Submission Cycle

The Zayed Sustainability Prize has officially announced its 2027 finalists, drawing a record 10,233 entries from 177 countries. This figure represents a 32 per cent increase compared to the previous year, marking the most competitive cycle in the history of the award.

The shortlisted innovators include pioneering projects such as artificial intelligence that predicts pregnancy complications months in advance, advanced robots designed to inspect water pipes, and heat-resilient corals aimed at rebuilding fragile marine reefs. These finalists span across multiple crucial sectors, including health, food, energy, water, climate action, and global high schools.

Winners are scheduled to be announced on January 12 at a formal awards ceremony held during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and director general of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, stated: "The finalists' work demonstrates that the most powerful solutions are those rooted in real-world needs, breaking down barriers and delivering meaningful, measurable impact."

Every single finalist is guaranteed funding, which extends the prize's robust support system beyond the eventual category winners. Organisational finalists across the health, food, energy, water, and climate action sectors will each receive $100,000 (Dh367,250), while global high school finalists will be awarded $25,000 each. Competitors who ultimately win their respective categories will secure the main award: $1 million for organisational categories and $150,000 for the Global High Schools category.

Introduced in 2026, this increased funding structure recognises both the proven impact and the high potential of the innovative solutions reaching the final evaluation stage.

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, chairman of the prize jury, noted: "Their work shows that meaningful progress is built not only through technology, but through determination, local knowledge and the capacity of communities to adapt and thrive."

Zayed Sustainability Prize Categories

Now in its 18th year, the prize continues to attract a diverse group of small and medium-sized enterprises, non-profit organisations, and high schools dedicated to developing solutions that improve everyday lives.

Health

• Elythea (US) utilises AI to forecast pregnancy complications six to eight months ahead of time, successfully reducing adverse maternal outcomes across a five-country trial and reaching more than 63,000 individuals.
• Goal 3 (Netherlands) pairs bedside vital-sign monitors with tablet-based records to catch early signs of deterioration in newborns and children across 48 hospitals.
• Marsi Bionics (Spain) has assisted more than 3,000 children in walking by using its innovative robotic paediatric exoskeleton.

Food

• Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies (US) applies soil microbes to help crops endure drought, heat, and salinity, successfully raising crop yields by 30 to 200 per cent across more than 13 million acres.
• ALSEC Alimentos Secos (Colombia) transforms cheese manufacturing by-products into valuable protein ingredients and clean water at a solar-powered facility, successfully recovering 22.7 million litres of whey.
• Towing (Japan) produces microbe-enhanced biochar designed to restore damaged soil in roughly one month instead of the usual three to five years.

Energy

• Energy Assured (Nigeria) provides pay-as-you-go solar systems, clean-burning stoves, and solar irrigation pumps to upwards of 4.6 million people.
• Flint (Singapore) manufactures a rechargeable cellulose-based battery that operates completely free of lithium, cobalt, and nickel.
• Sustain Plus (India) has deployed over 34,000 community-owned clean energy systems, positively impacting 2.5 million people.

Water

• Aguatuya Foundation (Bolivia) converts wastewater into usable irrigation water, high-quality compost, and biofungicides, recovering 1.08 million cubic metres annually.
• Rupantar (Bangladesh) operates women-led water enterprises that supply safe drinking water to approximately 450,000 people.
• Solinas (India) dispatches AI-equipped robots directly inside water and sewer pipes to locate and repair leaks, ultimately benefiting 17 million people.

Climate Action

• Aquafondo (Peru) revitalises ancestral Andean water systems, successfully restoring more than 6,000 hectares of land and adding 14 million cubic metres of groundwater each year.
• Coral Gardeners (French Polynesia) has planted over 221,000 heat-resilient corals through the use of artificial intelligence and advanced 3D reef mapping.
• String Bio (India) produces a microbial treatment for rice paddies that slashes methane emissions by up to 50 per cent while boosting yields by up to 39 per cent.

Global High Schools

The Applied Technology Schools located in Ajman proudly represent the UAE within the Middle East and North Africa region, alongside participating schools from Syria and Lebanon. Additional finalists hail from Canada, Colombia, and Argentina representing the Americas; DR Congo, Kenya, and Mauritius from Sub-Saharan Africa; Portugal, Kazakhstan, and Turkey from Europe and Central Asia; Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal from South Asia; and Indonesia, Fiji, and China representing East Asia and the Pacific.

To date, the Zayed Sustainability Prize has positively impacted more than 411 million lives worldwide, continuously expanding global access to quality healthcare, nutritious food, reliable energy, and safe water while fostering stronger, more resilient communities.