ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 13, 2026--
The Zayed Sustainability Prize, the UAE’s pioneering award for innovative solutions to global challenges, has officially closed submissions for its 2027 awards cycle, receiving an unprecedented 10,233 entries from 177 countries across its six categories of Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action and Global High Schools.
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Now in its 18 th year, the Prize continues to attract a diverse and growing pool of small and medium-sized enterprises, nonprofit organisations and high schools developing solutions that improve lives, particularly in vulnerable and underserved communities.
This year’s submissions point to a growing emphasis on resilience, adaptability and systems-level impact. Across regions, applicants are addressing complex global challenges through practical, community-focused solutions. From AI-enabled healthcare and agricultural technologies to decentralised energy, improved groundwater access, and circular economy approaches, applicants are developing solutions that expand access to essential services and foster more inclusive progress.
Submissions increased by 32% compared to the previous cycle, underscoring sustained global momentum for scalable, locally led innovation.
H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Director-General of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, said: “This historic level of participation reflects the growing global demand for practical solutions that build resilience, strengthen essential systems and deliver lasting impact. This year’s applicants have shown how AI, adaptability, innovation and local leadership can come together to address urgent challenges in communities where access, affordability and reliability remain limited. Guided by the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Prize will continue to support pioneers whose solutions are practical in purpose, grounded in service, and measured by the positive difference they make in people’s lives.”
Over two-thirds of submissions originated from developing and emerging economies, with particularly strong participation from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Kenya and the UAE. Developed markets, including the USA and UK, also showed robust engagement, highlighting the Prize’s expanding reach across diverse innovation ecosystems.
The Climate Action category received the highest number of submissions (2,505), followed by Food (2,261), Health (1,807), Global High Schools (1,710), Energy (994), and Water (956).
Across categories, key trends emerged:
Following the close of submissions, the Prize enters its evaluation phase. All entries will undergo an independent review and due diligence process, followed by assessment from a Selection Committee of international experts. Final winners will be selected by the Jury in September 2026.
Winners will be announced at the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony on 12 January 2027. Each organisational category winner will receive US $1 million, while six high schools—representing global regions—will each receive US $150,000 to implement or expand their projects. Each organisational finalist will receive US $150,000, while each high school finalist will receive US $25,000.
To date, through its 139 winners, the Prize has positively impacted more than 411 million lives worldwide, reinforcing its role as a leading platform for advancing inclusive and sustainable development.
About the Zayed Sustainability Prize
The Zayed Sustainability Prize is the UAE’s pioneering award for innovative solutions to global challenges.
A tribute to the legacy and vision of the UAE’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Prize aims to drive sustainable development worldwide.
Each year, across the Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action and Global High Schools categories, the Prize rewards organisations and high schools for groundbreaking solutions that advance sustainable progress and strengthen resilience for communities.
Through its 139 winners, in 18 years, the Prize has positively impacted over 411 million lives across the globe, inspiring innovators to amplify their impact and turn ambition into lasting progress.
The Zayed Sustainability Prize is an affiliate of Erth Zayed Philanthropies.
*Source:AETOSWire
Zayed Sustainability Prize Closes 2027 Submissions with Strong Global Participation (Photo: AETOSWire)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due in Paris on Monday for talks with two dozen European leaders helping Kyiv fight Russia’s invasion, with the war now in its fifth year.
European foreign ministers were also meeting separately in Brussels where they were expected to discuss Ukraine’s needs and Russia’s threats to the continent.
Both Kyiv and its European backers are keen to press home Ukraine’s recent successes and compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the fighting, although Moscow has shown no willingness to compromise despite a yearlong peace effort by the Trump administration.
Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have in recent months given it an edge, analysts and Western officials say. Its strikes on supply routes behind the front line have robbed the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield and made its progress slow and costly, they say.
Kyiv’s forces have especially targeted supplies to Crimea, triggering the worst fuel crisis on the Black Sea peninsula since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and delivering a blow to the Kremlin’s narrative that Moscow is winning the war.
Zelenskyy is keen to move quickly on plans for jointly developing with European countries anti-ballistic air defenses that can help stop Russia’s devastating attacks on Ukraine’s power grid.
“Everyone in the world sees that Ukraine needs more air defense, more protection of life,” Zelenskyy said Monday on social media after the latest overnight attacks across Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge last week to give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air-defense systems could mark a major breakthrough for Kyiv. However, experts and Ukrainian officials warn that turning the idea into real weapons would likely take years.
The meeting in Paris of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, which brings together more than 30 countries supporting Ukraine, was expected to include around 25 heads of state and government.
The notably high number of leaders appeared to be a demonstration of long-term commitment to Ukraine and a warning to Russia, as Moscow tests Europe's resilience.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced Monday that he would summon the Russian ambassador to France and impose sanctions against Russian hackers. He told BFMTV-RMC that the issue is about “a vast cyber campaign aimed at sabotage and espionage, carried out by Russia in about 10 European countries.”
Ukraine's neighbors have also felt the war's impact.
In the latest incident, a drone launched during Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine’s Odesa region crashed and exploded on Moldova’s territory, Moldova’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. It said the incident was “serious and unacceptable.”
Zelenskyy was traveling to the French capital after the death of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters in Washington, and amid a major and incomplete reshuffle of his government that saw Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko step down on Sunday.
Ukraine has aimed at targets deep inside Russia with its domestically developed long-range drones and missiles, matching and sometimes exceeding the number of drones used in relentless Russian aerial attacks.
Russian air defenses downed 350 Ukrainian drones heading toward Moscow since late Sunday, including 50 near the capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Andrei Vorobyov, the head of the region around Moscow, said that 81 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight.
Vorobyov said that three people were killed and another three were injured by the Ukrainian attack in the Pionersky settlement just outside Istra in the western part of the Moscow region. Five private houses were set ablaze, he said.
The Ukrainian air force, meanwhile, said Russia launched 134 long-range strike drones and three guided aviation missiles at Ukraine. Air defenses shot down or jammed all the missiles and 123 drones, while six drones caused damage at five locations, it said.
In the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, over 70 people were hospitalized after a series of recent Russian strikes damaged 11 apartment blocks, according to military administration head Ivan Fedorov.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the country’s main domestic security agency, said it had thwarted a Ukrainian plan for a drone attack on the Ukrainka air base in the far eastern Amur region, and the Shagol air base in the Chelyabinsk region in the southern Urals.
The agency said small drones were smuggled into Russia’s western Bryansk region using air balloons and bigger transport drones, and then taken by car close to the air bases by Ukrainian agents.
The agency said it had arrested Ukrainian agents and their accomplices and seized 24 drones. It said the purported plot was part of a series of planned drone strikes on military infrastructure “unprecedented in its scale and the level of threat.”
A Ukrainian covert operation just over a year ago, code named Operation Spiderweb, destroyed or damaged nearly a third of Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet with drones sneaked into Russian territory, according to Ukrainian officials.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Rescue workers try to put out a fire of a residential building burning after a Russian drone attack on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, late Sunday, July 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Rescue workers try to put out a fire of a residential building burning after a Russian drone attack on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, late Sunday, July 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
This photo released by Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyev's official telegram channel shows firefighters working to extinguish a fire at a house burning after being damaged during a Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow region of Russia, on Monday, July 13, 2026. (Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyev's official telegram channel via AP)
