The 2022 Paulson Prizes for Sustainability are now accepting applications until June 30, announced the Paulson Institute, in partnership with China's Tsinghua University on April 15.

"The climate and biodiversity crises are two of the biggest challenges of our generation. The Paulson Prize for Sustainability is all about discovering the ideas and innovations that will make a difference in mitigating their impact," said Henry M. Paulson, Jr., founder and chairman of the Paulson Institute. 

"By shining a light on the most innovative and transformative green projects coming out of China, the Paulson Prize seeks to inspire the spread of sustainable solutions that can make our world more resilient and environmentally sustainable," he stressed. 

In 2013, the Paulson Institute launched the Prize to annually award projects in China that present innovative, scalable, and sustainable solutions to address the twin emergencies of climate change and biodiversity loss. The main objective of the Prize is to lead the global sustainability transformation by inspiring new thinking and shining a light on projects that offer the most potential to meet these challenges, both in China and around the world. 

In its ninth year, the Paulson Prize awards one project in each of two categories: Green Innovation and Nature Stewardship. The Nature Stewardship award is given to projects centered around conservation and biodiversity protection. This category recognizes innovative and scalable projects that preserve and protect the natural environment, including restoring natural ecosystems in China, such as wetlands, forests, oceans, rivers, grasslands, and deserts. The Green Innovation category, as in years past, focuses on the built environment, including energy conservation, comprehensive utilization of resources, the circular economy, pollution prevention and control, and climate resilience.

Yu Jiang, chief representative of the China Office & Managing Director for the Paulson Institute in Beijing, said in his speech addressing the launch ceremony that as the world's second-largest economy and one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, China advocates a green, low-carbon and ecologically-first development path. Therefore, its innovative solutions can serve as a reference for promoting the agenda for sustainable development.

"We look forward to more enterprises, institutions, social groups, and non-governmental organizations actively participating in the application this year to promote the Chinese solutions to the world," Yu said.

"We are at a pivotal time in the transition to a low carbon economy, where the capital, technology, and policy all must align to enable growth in green initiatives and industries at a significant pace and scale," said Tracy R. Wolstencroft, jury co-chair in Green Innovation, senior advisor to TPG Rise Climate, and former president and CEO of the National Geographic Society, "The Paulson Prize represents a unique opportunity for both public and private sector leaders in green innovation to receive international recognition, but also raise their profile with potential new partners, new investors, customers, and policymakers."

"China has innovative models and practices in ecosystem restoration and protection. Through the Paulson Prize, we hope to bring these innovations to the rest of the world," said Ma Keping, Paulson Prize jury committee co-chair, chairman of IUCN Asia Regional Members Committee, and deputy director-general for the Biodiversity Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

More information is available via the link: https://www.paulsoninstitute.org/key-initiatives/prize/

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