Meet the high-achieving Emirati environmentalist, 11, who hopes to inspire his peers

Sultan Albadi is on a mission to make the world a better place for children his age

Schoolboy environmentalist Sultan Albadi, from Sharjah, signing his third book. Photo: Sultan Albadi

Sultan Albadi has achieved more in his 11 years than most children his age.

The high-achiever from Sharjah is a renowned public speaker, has already published three books, set up a business selling scents, is a member of the local youth council and has more than 30,000 followers on Instagram.

Sultan, a pupil at Al Majd Model School for Boys, is also an environmental activist and uses his social media reach to educate other children about climate change and the importance of adopting a green future.

“My videos are based on scientific studies simply explained,” said Sultan.

He started creating content at the age of seven, when he made a video with his teachers at the Sharjah Children Centre, speaking Japanese to encourage other children to enrol in the language courses. It ended up going viral.

Lamia Mohommed, Sultan’s mom, created his social page during Covid-19 and it grew from there.

“I pushed him to something more beneficial for the community rather than just creating content for the sake of content,” she told The National.

“The issue with climate change is that many people are refusing to believe that it’s actually happening. The world is in danger because they were not aware at a very young age that it’s a critical issue and we need to act all together.”

“I believe that if children at a very young age are aware, in the future we won’t spend time debating and trying to convince them.”

Sultan decided to start making content about the environment when President Sheikh Mohamed declared 2023 the Year of Sustainability.

“I’m lucky to be part of a family that cares about the environment,” Sultan told The National. “Sustainability is a way of life, it’s not just about caring about the environment, it’s about all these good everyday acts that have an impact on individuals”

His most recent social media challenge aimed to encourage pupils to get rid of single-use bottles and replace them with reusable water bottles.

“In this way, they are going to be saving not only the environment but also their health and their pocket,” Sultan said.

“Studies have shown that if we don’t make any change in our habits by the year 2050, there will be more plastic bottles than fish in the seas.”

Published author

Sultan’s green message is also shared in his latest book, Kharek and the Smart Ghaf Tree, which pays tribute to the UAE’s national tree and shows how innovative solutions can contribute to sustainability.

“The story had a great impact among students and parents,” he said. “Very often children get more influenced by children of their age than their parents.

“I’m simply going hand in hand with my country’s vision to make the UAE, the best country in the world by the year 2071.”

His other books are UAE The Future Of The World, which is about the country in 50 years, and The Power of the Loris, which tackles the issue of bullying.

Entrepreneur

Sultan and his brother Saif set up a green company named Eco-Scents, which won an award at the Sharjah Department of Economic Development’s Business Stars competition.

“Eco-Scents is an eco-friendly, aromatic, handmade wax melt,” said Sultan. “The kind we sell are clean burn with no petroleum or paraffin.

As a member of Sharjah Student Parliament, he spreads awareness to children about topics including sustainability. He also volunteers at the Sharjah Volunteer Centre.

Green habits start at home

Sultan’s mother encourages sustainable behaviour at home and believes that small habits like saving electricity and water go a long way.

“I advise them to take a shower rather than a bath because it takes fewer litres. I try to make children aware of their acts,” said Ms Mohammed.

“Even in their lunch box, I try to minimise the use of plastic as much as possible.

“We try not to have plastic bottles. We have reusable bottles, no single-use bottles.”

Sultan says he wants to be a coder and join the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence when he is older.

“My hobby is mostly reading books and these books are, for example, about technology and coding. They help me a lot in coding,” said Sultan.