The Zayed Sustainability Prize has named its 2027 finalists after a record 10,233 submissions from 177 countries, the Abu Dhabi-based award said on September 28.
Winners will be announced on January 12, 2027, at an awards ceremony during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the annual gathering that brings government delegations, investors and executives to the UAE capital each January. Entries rose 32% year-on-year. The week follows a run of additions to the emirate’s visitor offer, including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opening on December 11 and a deal between Etihad Airways and Etihad Rail to link air and rail travel across the country.
The prize jury selected finalists across six categories: health, food, energy, water, climate action and global high schools.
Every finalist receives funding, a scheme introduced with the 2026 cycle. Organisational finalists receive $100,000 each and high school finalists $25,000. Category winners instead receive $1mn in the organisational categories and $150,000 for high schools.
“This year’s finalists remind us what is possible when perseverance and purpose come together,” said Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and director general of the prize.
Several finalists work in coastal and mountain settings that also draw visitors. Coral Gardeners, a non-profit from French Polynesia, grows heat-resilient corals in underwater nurseries and has planted more than 221,000 corals, restoring 25,100 sq m of reef. Peru’s Aquafondo restores ancestral Andean water systems across more than 6,000 hectares.
Other finalists include Nigeria’s Energy Assured, which supplies pay-as-you-go solar home systems to more than 4.6mn people, and Bangladesh’s Rupantar, which runs women-owned water enterprises serving around 450,000 people. High school finalists include Votualevu College in Fiji and Motithang Higher Secondary School in Thimphu, Bhutan.
“The 2027 finalists demonstrate the enduring value of innovation in strengthening resilience, advancing human wellbeing and equipping communities to navigate an increasingly complex world,” said Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, former president of Iceland and chair of the prize jury.
The UAE launched the award in 2008 as the Zayed Future Energy Prize, named after the country’s founding president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It says its winners have reached more than 411mn people worldwide.