Pacific island countries and territories continue to display innovation and resilience in applying practical and sustainable solutions for green growth and blue economies.

Motufoua Secondary School, the only government school in Tuvalu was one of the recipients announced for the 10th edition of the Zayed Future Energy Prize 2018 as part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

The tiny Polynesian island school submission was amongst 2,296 submissions received from 112 countries around the world.

Located on the island of Vaitapu, the school has a 46kW solar PV array and a diesel generator but do not have a steady supply of fuel.

The school plans to utlise the US$100,000 (FJD $200,000) to install a bio-digester and a pig farm that will provide organic fertiliser for their vegetable garden.

This should produce enough biogas to meet the school’s needs and save money otherwise spent on synthetic fertiliser and liquid petroleum gas imports from Fiji and also to install four 10,000-litre rainwater tanks and a 3kW solar PV system to light the pig farm and run a water pump.

The Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) Secretary General, François Martel, acknowledged the Zayed Future Energy Prize initiative, as it continued to empower winners that are delivering significant impact across the world delivering sustainable solutions for communities to be given new, sustainable, ways to receive and use electricity and for people and communities to have a voice in shaping sustainable energy policies across the globe including the Pacific.

“We whole heartedly congratulate Motufoua Secondary School for their valiant efforts to identify issues that they are facing and also providing sustainable solutions to address it,” said the PIDF Secretary General.

“The future of sustainable development truly is in the hand of our youth who are setting benchmarks and leading the way forward by offering innovative solutions for green growth and sustainable blue economies,” further added Secretary General Martel.

The Zayed Future Energy Prize was launched in 2008 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed at the World Future Energy Summit in honour of UAE Founding Father Sheikh Zayed’s legacy of environmental stewardship and aims to support and encourage sustainable projects around the world, with the prize having impacted 289 million people through its projects.

It is the world’s preeminent renewable energy and sustainability prize, each year recognising outstanding contributions from companies, schools, non-profit groups and individuals.

Nine pioneers in renewable energy and sustainability across five categories became the latest awardees to join the prize’s growing international community of winners.

The 2017 recipients of the prize span a wide range of industry expertise, from breakthrough photovoltaic manufacturing to government policy advisory.

The Zayed Future Energy Prize has so far recognised 57 individuals and organisations since it was founded in 2008.

Since the prize’s establishment 10 years ago, more than 307 million people have been positively affected by the winners of the award and 157 million have access to renewable energy.