Sharjah 24 – WAM: Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), the global platform for accelerating sustainable development, hosted by Masdar, Saturday announced a new collaboration, which will bring elements of the Week to Expo 2020 Dubai. The ADSW Opening Ceremony and the Zayed Sustainability Prize awards ceremony will take place at the Dubai Exhibition Centre on Monday 17th January 2022.

The announcement was made during Expo 2020’s Climate and Biodiversity Week (the first of 10 Theme Weeks that anchor the Programme for People and Planet) which aims to mobilise efforts to take decisive action for the health of world. Bringing ADSW’s vital platforms to Expo 2020 will further demonstrate the UAE’s leading role in driving action on climate change, at home, in the region, and throughout the world.

ADSW is one of the largest of gatherings of its kind, which welcomes each year more than 45,000 participants from more than 170 countries. The week will return between 15 – 19 January 2022 and feature a series of high-level in person and virtual events.

The 2022 programme will include the ADSW opening ceremony, Zayed Sustainability Prize awards ceremony, ADSW Summit, IRENA Assembly, Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum, Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum, Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER) Forum, Youth 4 Sustainability Hub, and the World Future Energy Summit – Exhibitions and Forums.

Launched at the 2008 World Future Energy Summit by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Zayed Sustainability Prize is a tribute to his father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and his sustainability legacy.

Over 352 million people have been directly or indirectly impacted by the sustainability solutions and school projects of the 86 recipients of the Zayed Sustainability Prize winners since the first awards ceremony in 2009.

The Prize’s US$3 million annual fund rewards winners US$600,000 in each category; the Global High Schools category is split into six world region winners, with each school able to claim up to US$100,000 to start or further expand their project. The six world regions of the Global High Schools category are The Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & North Africa, Europe & Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia & Pacific.

All ADSW events other than its Opening Ceremony and the Zayed Sustainability Prize awards ceremony will take place in Abu Dhabi or will be hosted virtually.