00:00 Today we are glad to feature three very inspiring and visionary finalists from the COP28 edition cycle.
00:06 From Africa, Asia and North America, Zayed Sustainability Prize, established by the UAE leadership in 2008,
00:14 to honor the legacy of the founding father, the great Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
00:19 The Zayed Sustainability Prize is the UAE's pioneering global award for sustainability and humanitarian solutions around the world.
00:29 The prize recognizes and rewards small to medium-sized enterprises, non-profit organizations and global high schools
00:36 that are committed to accelerating impactful sustainable solutions.
00:41 Over the past 15 years, the prize has awarded 106 winners who have positively impacted the lives of over 378 million people around the world.
00:56 Son, you are a finalist in Zayed Sustainability Prize.
00:59 You are a very renowned and outstanding person.
01:03 You have a PhD in social marketing and has over decades of experience, management experience,
01:12 in prestigious multinational corporations such as General Electric and Mobil.
01:20 Can you please tell us about your organization and its sustainable solutions and impact?
01:26 Wa alaikum assalam and thank you.
01:28 We are honored that we have been one of the finalists for the Zayed Sustainability Prize.
01:34 I am very pleased to share that I, Dr. Ehsan Rabbani, represent the Child Life Foundation.
01:40 It's one of the largest non-profits working in Pakistan.
01:46 The team estimates about 5 million children below the age of 5 die in this world every year.
01:52 That's why they've called Sustainability Development Goal 3.2 to reduce this to zero by the year 2030.
02:00 If you improve the emergency rooms of hospitals, you can reduce the child mortality by half.
02:08 So that's what we do.
02:11 We adopt hospitals which are government hospitals where the poorest and the sickest children are brought in.
02:18 And we have been able to create a network of hospitals.
02:22 Today we are treating close to 1.5 million children annually with a very high survival rate.
02:28 So I believe that this is a high impact because you're saving lives.
02:36 And we believe that the innovation we have been able to do is that we not only manage the emergency room very effectively
02:44 at $7 per child visit, $7 per child visit for treatment, but to spread it, we use an innovative solution of telemedicine.
02:56 Dr. Being a finalist at Zayed Sustainability Prize, what does this recognition mean to you personally and to your organization?
03:05 Honestly, every recognition that comes in, it boosts the morale of the team.
03:12 They are the people who work day in day out. Emergency works 24/7.
03:17 This is a very high burnout industry.
03:21 And we have survived COVID, we have survived floods, and COVID has opened to the world how critical healthcare is.
03:32 It has to be number one priority. And the people delivering that need to be taken care of.
03:38 My prayers are with you and inshallah this finalism will actually become a reward ceremony.
03:44 InshaAllah.
03:46 Allah Karim.
03:49 Thank you, Dr. Thank you very much. Have a nice day.
03:52 Robert Naveen, he's a CEO and founder of CarbonCure Technologies.
04:00 And he's one of the Climate Action category finalists for Zayed Sustainability Prize.
04:07 Mr. Robert, can you please tell us about your organization and its sustainable solution and impact?
04:14 I'd be delighted to and it's a real honor to be a finalist in the Zayed Sustainability Prize.
04:20 CarbonCure is a Canadian climate technology business that has developed technology for the construction industry.
04:27 What we do is we actually allow concrete to be made with CO2, which is normally considered a greenhouse gas.
04:35 So it can be used now to create concrete.
04:40 That concrete has higher strength, a lower carbon footprint, and it's being used all around the world,
04:46 including in the Emirates, to make concrete for construction with a much lower carbon footprint.
04:52 Excellent. Excellent. So this by itself, I would say that it's not only a milestone for you,
04:59 but a milestone for everyone who is actually using concrete in their day to day construction sites.
05:08 David, what were the challenges that you faced promoting sustainability in your project and how did you overcome them?
05:14 I think probably the greatest challenge is changing the mindset of a very entrenched and enormous industry.
05:26 As a finalist for Zayed Sustainability Prize, what does this recognition mean to you personally and professionally?
05:34 Our business today is operating in 35 countries, primarily the United States where we began our operations.
05:40 But we see an enormous opportunity in the Gulf region.
05:45 And this type of recognition, I think, really elevates our visibility and credibility to be associated with such a distinguished prize.
05:57 I think it will open up a lot of doors and certainly open up a lot of minds to talk with us about how we can help to decarbonize society through construction in the region and certainly in the Emirates.
06:22 David is a co-founder of Regen Organics from Kenya. He is the food category finalist for Zayed Sustainability Prize.
06:31 David, can you tell us a little bit about your organization and its sustainable solutions and impact?
06:39 Great. Thanks so much.
06:42 Regen Organics is part of the Sanergy Collaborative.
06:46 And what we're all about is coming up with smart ways to be able to manage organic waste streams and converting it into valuable regenerative agricultural inputs like organic fertilizer and insect protein.
06:59 Amazing. David, what kind of challenges did you face promoting sustainability and how did you overcome them?
07:07 There's a lot of forces at play in agriculture that make it difficult to promote climate smart solutions.
07:16 But what we do is work closely with the farmers so that they're able to see the benefits of organic fertilizer.
07:23 Perfect. David, what do you hope to achieve at COP28?
07:28 COP28 is obviously an incredible event that brings together hundreds of thousands of people who are all committed to being able to have a green, clean earth.
07:37 And so, you know, being featured through the Zayed Sustainability Prize and then also just to be here at COP gives us a platform and a microphone to be able to talk about the important work that's being done in emerging markets to promote food security.
07:56 What does this recognition mean to you personally and professionally?
07:59 Yeah, the recognition of Zayed Sustainability Prize is huge.
08:03 I mean, first of all, for all of my teammates back in Kenya, it gives us a nice spring in our step to be honored and recognized by such a preeminent prize.
08:16 And then, of course, you know, the events that happen, which enable us to both attend events like COP or Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and things like that, are so valuable for us to build partnerships, build connections, raise funds and raise awareness about our work.
08:32 Thank you, David. I wish you all the best.
08:35 I am 100 percent sure that, you know, Regan Organics would actually achieve the furthest milestones in sustainability in the agricultural sector.
08:46 Thank you, Aboula. That's very kind of you to say that.
