Zayed Sustainability Prize 2027

Climate Action.

Use the Tunisian operating entity if it can evidence at least two years of operation and implemented impact. Otherwise pause or use a confirmed SME/NPO route.

AOR Green.

https://aorgreen.com.

Select Small and Medium Enterprise. If applying through the AOR Green Foundation after legal establishment, select Non-Profit Organisation instead.

Select North Africa if the Tunisian operating entity is the applicant. Select Western Europe if the Spanish EU entity is used.

Tunisia is the implemented anchor through the 100-hectare Skhira pilot. Barcelona, Paris, and The Hague can be framed as institutional development presence unless legal operations are confirmed.

AOR Green restores degraded arid land in Tunisia by cultivating arid-optimised Miscanthus and Paulownia on a 100-hectare Skhira pilot, combining soil restoration, biomass and timber production, future verified carbon pathways, and farmer inclusion.

Climate Adaptation & Community Resilience; Carbon Removal / Sequestration; Nature-Based Solutions; Natural Resource Conservation. Use Climate Mitigation only with quantified evidence.

Reforestation & Afforestation; Ecosystem & Habitat Restoration; Community-Based Climate Resilience Programmes; Investment / Climate Finance Models.

Carbon Sequestered; Improved Community Resilience & Preparedness; Improved Ecosystem Health & Biodiversity; Reduced Climate Risks.

A 299-word overview is drafted around degraded Mediterranean arid land, the Skhira pilot, licensed arid-optimised crops, farmer access finance, and sovereign partnership.

Includes land preparation, plant material, irrigation, soil and water assessment, planting, local labour, agronomic management, monitoring, governance, legal structuring, and future carbon-methodology development.

An improved or adapted approach, combining perennial biomass and afforestation concepts with licensed genetics, sovereign governance, and farmer access finance.

Select Yes. AOR Green operates with an exclusive commercial licence to patented Miscanthus and Paulownia genetics; upload approved licence evidence.

Treat degraded arid land as a productive climate and development asset, combining crop production, restoration, carbon-readiness, farmer access, and sovereign partnership.

Position against conventional afforestation, voluntary carbon developers, biomass crop developers, regenerative agriculture platforms, agroforestry operators, and restoration NGOs.

Direct cultivation, farmer empowerment finance, and state-joint-venture routes. Direct beneficiaries are participating farmers, local workers, and rural communities around Skhira.

Select Food, Energy, and Water if framed conservatively through productive land recovery, future biomass/bioethanol pathways, and soil/water resilience.

The Foundation route can support farmers who cannot afford plant material and irrigation infrastructure, with gender and youth inclusion to be made explicit through actual figures.

Proposed allocation: 35% Skhira pilot implementation, 20% farmer empowerment facility, 15% MRV and evidence, 15% local capacity, 10% processing and market readiness, 5% governance and reporting.

Drafted around treating degraded arid land as a practical economic and institutional task rather than only a desertification problem to slow down.

Long-horizon stewardship, sovereign partnership, community primacy, disciplined evidence, non-displacement, and restoring land productivity with human dignity.

Complete Skhira, build MRV, launch Foundation finance, establish state-aligned routes, develop EU-side pilots, build biomass and timber market pathways, and progress to institutional finance/carbon pathways.

Select Yes for partnerships with other Prize applicants, finalists, or winners.