The BASE Foundation has been announced as one of three finalists in the Energy category of the Zayed Sustainability Prize 2026, in recognition of its innovative Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS) model.
Regarded as the United Arab Emirates’ pioneering award for innovative solutions to global challenges, the Zayed Sustainability Prize celebrates organisations and companies that are delivering inclusive, technology-enabled, and locally adapted solutions that advance sustainable development. This year’s finalists were selected from 7,761 submissions across 173 countries, with winners to be announced on January 13, 2026, during the official award ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
The CaaS model was pioneered by BASE via the Cooling-as-a-Service Initiative and is now being promoted under the Servitisation for Energy Transition (SET) Alliance for the building sector and the Your Virtual Cold Chain Assistant (YourVCCA) project in the agricultural sector. CaaS is transforming how sustainable cooling can be accessed, as it replaces ownership with a pay-per-use approach. Through this model, users, from smallholder farmers to businesses and building operators, gain access to state-of-the-art and high-performance cooling solutions without upfront investment. They simply pay for the cooling they use, ensuring affordability, circularity and shifting the technical and performance risk back to the provider.
So far, through BASE’s different projects, CaaS has demonstrated how business model innovation can align incentives between stakeholders and unlock the deployment of cleaner, more efficient systems while creating sustainable economic opportunities. By enabling the deployment of greener cooling systems in buildings and strengthening cold chains in rural areas, CaaS is helping farmers preserve harvests, small enterprises grow sustainably, and communities adapt to rising temperatures. So far, the model has catalysed over $160 million in investments in sustainable cooling technologies, saving 130 GWh of electricity and avoiding 81,000 tons of CO₂ emissions annually*.
Being shortlisted for this global recognition reinforces BASE’s long-standing mission to mainstream clean cooling and scale market-based financial solutions for climate action.
Kaer’s Cooling-as-a-Service installation at Elpro Park in Pune, India
Daniel Magallón, Managing Director at BASE Foundation, said: “Being selected as a finalist for the Zayed Sustainability Prize is a powerful recognition of BASE’s mission and the growing movement driving systemic market transformation, positioning low-carbon, energy-efficient cooling as the most cost-effective solution. It reflects the Prize’s vision of championing inclusive, market-based innovations that align financial and environmental value while improving lives. This honour strengthens our global movement of over 80 partners, inspiring us to continue scaling Cooling-as-a-Service, delivering affordable, climate-friendly cooling worldwide.”
Emma Wink, Sustainable Finance Specialist at BASE Foundation and Servitisation for Energy Transition (SET) Alliance lead, said:“Being selected as a finalist for the Zayed Sustainability Prize is an honour. This recognition reaffirms our mission to expand access to clean, energy-efficient cooling through the Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS) model. Winning the prize would allow us to accelerate our impact across more markets and reach the communities that need it most. We thank the jury for acknowledging our work and vision – and we congratulate all our fellow finalists for the impactful work they lead throughout the globe!”
As the world looks for scalable solutions to bridge the gap between sustainability goals and real-world implementation, Cooling-as-a-Service stands as a tangible, proven climate finance solution in action.
All fingers crossed for the award ceremony on January 13th in Abu Dhabi and for taking this vision even further.
*As per the projects BASE and its partners have been tracking.
