Industry Expo City Dubai

Expo City Dubai Foundation Funds Seven Climate Projects

By Ummulkiram Pardawala April 30, 2026 2 min read

Moroccan brickmakers reviving traditional building techniques, Indian innovators transforming straw into animal feed and Egyptian producers of ocean-waste-derived cooling shades are among the seven projects selected for Expo City Dubai Foundation’s latest Global Innovators Programme.

Tackling extreme heat challenges in the Global South, the programme’s eighth cohort received more than 1,000 applications from 84 countries, with winners selected by an independent judging panel that included representatives from Emirates Airline and ENGIE. The selected projects stem from five countries – Egypt, Morocco, Peru, India and Nigeria – with implementation spanning South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Each will receive funding of up to USD 100,000, alongside technical guidance, visibility and access to networking opportunities.

Yousuf Caires, Executive Director, Expo City Dubai Foundation, said:

We are delighted to announce our latest cohort of global innovators leaving a lasting impact on the world. The strong response is a testament to the wealth of ideas available to tackle extreme heat – a crucial and time-sensitive challenge that can only be successfully addressed by working collaboratively. These projects hold immense potential across a range of industries, and we are honoured to play a small part in helping them scale.

We celebrate this milestone as we proudly mark a decade since announcing our first cohort in 2016 – as part of our first chapter as Expo Live. Collaboration and innovation to drive progress remains at the heart of everything we do, and we are determined to continue advancing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues, proving that – even within a shifting global landscape – purposeful action can and must persevere to secure a sustainable future for all.

Expo City Dubai Foundation provides a platform for social enterprises and entrepreneurs from around the world to forge meaningful partnerships, share future-focused, sustainable solutions and work together to help these ideas take root, grow and thrive. The seven projects selected from the latest cohort of the Global Innovators Programme, listed below, take the total number of entrepreneurs supported to 200-plus from 97 countries, building on the impact of a global initiative that has positively impacted more than 6 million people worldwide.

ORGANISATION	FROM	PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Ecodome Maroc	Morocco	Reviving traditional building techniques and reclaiming local materials to produce circular, high-performance bricks to create resilient, insulated and sustainable infrastructure in rural and semi-arid regions.
Fuselage Innovations Private Limited	India	Harnessing unmanned aerial vehicle-driven analytics for precision heat-stress detection and resource-efficient yield protection.
Greendeal	Peru	Converting previously unrecyclable plastic into heat-resilient construction panels using proprietary thermo-compression technology.
Mercredi Solutions Private Limited	India	Waste-to-feed innovation transforming wheat straw into storable animal feed, securing year-round livestock nutrition and sustainable farmer income.
Moon Innovations Limited	Nigeria	Modular solar-energy systems securing food, health and livelihoods in climate-vulnerable regions.
Resilience AI	India	Transforming AI-driven heat data into hyperlocal, live guidance for inclusive, targeted cooling interventions.
Visenleer	Egypt	Producing passive-cooling multi-purpose textiles from ocean waste and seaweed to cool essential community hubs and create local employment opportunities.