Abu Dhabi launched a new award to recognise individuals and organisations supporting environmental sustainability and conservation

Abu Dhabi launched a new award yesterday to recognise individuals and organisations championing environmental sustainability and conservation. The Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Environmental Award will honour its first set of winners for three main categories at COP28 later this year, award organisers the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) announced.

Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and chairman of the EAD board of directors, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said that the UAE’s keenness to protect the environment represents an original trend stemming from its belief in the importance of the Environment in achieving sustainable development. Today, this award is being launched to stimulate excellence and creativity among individuals and organisations in the fields of preserving and protecting the environment, encouraging initiative and leadership, and enhancing interest in environmental work and regulatory compliance.

The award includes three main categories in its first edition:

• The Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Environmental Medal will recognise those who have excelled in environmental activities, including falconers, farmers, fishers, and well owners who make the best use of available resources. It will also recognise environmental pioneers and influencers.

• The Environmental Research Award will honour the top scientific studies that support solutions to environmental issues now and in the future. Separate awards will be given to researchers and research institutes in this category.‎

• The Environmental Performance Award will highlight innovative approaches and best practises in the fields of environmental protection and sustainable industrial growth.

The deadline for submissions for the prize is May 28. The EAD said that both individual and third-party submissions will be welcomed. At COP28, winners will receive a medal or trophy as well as a cash award. In an effort to spread their lessons and inspire others, the EAD will also publish the winners' ideas and success stories.

The prize is anticipated to become a biannual honour, according to Osama Abu Saleem, advisor to the EAD secretary-general's office. In the near future, the precise dollar amount of each category's reward will be made public.

The awards in this first edition will only be given to companies and groups with offices in Abu Dhabi.‎

As the emirate's environmental sector regulator, the EAD has introduced a number of sustainability initiatives, such as the Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative to protect and expand carbon-storing mangrove forests and the BAADR smartphone app to encourage healthy individual behaviour.

The Environmental diagnostic tool was created as a consequence of the criteria for the awards being set in collaboration with EFQM to benefit from the company's experience in building diagnostic tools.