The Paulson Institute, in partnership with Tsinghua University, announced the launch of the 2020 Paulson Prize for Sustainability on April 13, 2020. Entities registered in China, including businesses, institutions, social organizations, and NGOs, are invited to submit projects demonstrating ingenuity and leadership in sustainable development by July 15, 2020.

The Paulson Prize was initiated by the Paulson Institute in 2013, and has been developed in partnership with Tsinghua University since 2017. The award is presented annually to projects in China that represent innovative, scalable, and market-based solutions at the intersection of economics and the environment to address the world's most pressing environmental challenges.

This year, the Paulson Prize will be awarded to projects in two categories, the Green Innovation category and the newly launched Nature Stewardship category. 

The Green Innovation category will remain focused on the built environment, including energy conservation, comprehensive utilization of resources, the circular economy, pollution prevention and control, and climate resilience.

With increased attention paid to ecological environment protection and biodiversity conservation, a prize in Nature Stewardship has been set up to acknowledge innovative projects that preserve and protect the natural environment, including the restoration of natural ecosystems in China, such as wetlands, forests, oceans, rivers, grasslands, and deserts.

"The world is facing health, economic, and environmental crises, unlike any previous time in history. A commitment to sustainability and conservation is the only option to ensure long-term human prosperity," said Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Chairman of the Paulson Institute. "Through the Paulson Prize, we hope to highlight projects in the built and natural environments that provide innovative solutions to these challenges and can serve as models internationally."

The Chairperson of Tsinghua University Council Chen Xu said: "In recent years, the construction of an eco-civilization has become a widespread consensus in Chinese society. An increasing number of cities and enterprises in China are actively committed to green development, contributing to the sustainable development of society while building a beautiful China. We look forward to bringing more sustainable best practices with Chinese characteristics to the world through the solicitation of the Paulson Prize."

The Paulson Prize is determined by an independent jury comprised of prominent international and Chinese leaders in the fields of economics, finance, energy, ecology, and environmental protection. The jury will evaluate submissions based on the evaluation criteria, including creativity, environmental and ecological impact, scalability, financing mechanism, and social and economic co-benefits. The board will then visit and inspect the shortlisted projects and select the winning project in each category.

Previous winners include the Shenzhen Waste-to-Energy Plant and NIMBY Mitigation Project from Shenzhen, Bio-based Green Lubricating Oil Project from Jinhua, Organic Waste Recycling and Farmland Quality Improvement Project from Chengdu, Sustainable City Water Supply Network Leakage Control Solution from Beijing, Shenzhen International Low-Carbon City Project, and Jiaxing Nanhu New Country Village Project.

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