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Top prizes in Climate Change Challenge won by UAE school team and teacher from India

Published

School students from UAE and Naqeeb Mehdi, a teacher from India, have scooped the top prizes in the Oxford Saïd-Burjeel Holdings Climate Change Challenge 2024.

The worldwide competition brought together educators, students, and global leaders to spotlight innovative solutions to the climate crisis. Selected from more than 1,000 applications across 58 countries, the winners showcased ideas that merge creativity, science, and actionable strategies to inspire leadership and resilience in climate action.

This year’s teacher winner, Naqeeb Mehdi, introduced a cutting-edge curriculum focused on wetlands and their role in climate change mitigation.  

Meanwhile, Team Plethora's Mehak, Parvi, and Tirushi from Cambridge High School in the UAE school claimed victory with a pioneering solution for industrial sludge management, and will be spending two weeks next summer in Oxford, as part of the Future Climate Innovators Summer School 2025. 

 

The Climate Change Challenge reinforces the importance of harnessing education and innovation to address the climate crisis. The ingenuity displayed by these participants inspires hope for a sustainable, equitable future.

Dr Shamsheer Vayalil

Founder and Chairman of Burjeel Holdings

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Naqeeb Mehdi

Dr Vayalil continued: 'The ingenuity displayed by these participants inspires hope for a sustainable, equitable future. Burjeel Holdings is proud to support initiatives that empower individuals to enact meaningful change.’

The teacher finalists included representatives from the UK, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, and two from India, each bringing locally inspired, globally relevant approaches to climate education. Among the student teams, participants hailed from the US (two teams), the UK, Lebanon, and the UAE. Their innovative solutions ranged from biodegradable agricultural gels to solar-powered marine robots.

Finalists presented their projects to a distinguished panel of judges from Oxford Saïd; Tsinghua University in China; Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR; Sumgayit State University, Azerbaijan; and Burjeel Holdings. The rigorous evaluation underscored the competition’s commitment to fostering environmental stewardship through education and innovation. 

 

The creativity and determination displayed in this competition highlight how education and innovation can drive impactful climate action. These projects offer practical blueprints for addressing global challenges and inspire optimism for the future.

Professor Soumitra Dutta

Peter Moores Dean, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

The Winning Entries

Naqeeb’s programme immerses students in data-driven ecological studies, emphasising wetlands' contributions to carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and hydrological resilience. Naqeeb’s innovative approach bridges theoretical knowledge with practical applications, fostering a generation of environmentally literate students.

Team Plethora’s solutions system utilises vortex filtration and zeolite media to remove ammonia and metals while mitigating CO2 emissions by converting potassium carbonate into bicarbonate. This dual-purpose innovation exemplifies the integration of sustainability into industrial practices, addressing environmental health and waste management simultaneously. 

Climate Change Challenge 2024. 

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