G20 Global Land Initiative returns to START Summit and Hack 2025

Author: Matheus Ferreira Gois Fontes, Liaison Officer G20 GLI   |   March 14, 2025

Start Heck Session

Photo credit: UNCCD/G20
A Start Hack Pitch Session

The G20 Global Land Initiative (GLI) is returning to START Summit and Hack 2025, one of the world’s leading StartUp events, to showcase successful ventures for land restoration in the startup sector at the Summit and, at the Hack, to find solutions to the intractable challenge of restoring degrading land in Africa’s Sahel region.

Among GLI’s exciting highlights this year is the participation of eight Youth Ecopreneurs, selected for their innovative work in land restoration, a Workshop on how to secure funding while scaling businesses sustainably and profitably, and a bold START Hack challenge to be resolved themed, “Innovating for Sustainable Land Management and Restoration in the Sahel.”

Paula Padrino Vilela, Programme Management Officer at the UNCCD-G20 Global Land Initiative, will on Friday morning, 21 March, deliver a keynote speech titled, Unlocking the trillion dollar restoration economy: the power of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Held annually in St. Gallen, Switzerland, the START Summit attracts Europe’s brightest entrepreneurs, investors, Venture Capitalists, students and large corporations to explore the future of green innovation. This year, the G20 GLI will bring its very core message: that Land is a Land of Opportunities.

The ecopreneurs are part of the 2024 Youth Ecopreneur Programme (YECO), which is jointly led by G20 GLI and the International Trade Center. Prior to their arrival in St. Gallen, the ecopreneurs will meet business leaders in Switzerland to learn the crucial skills they need to attract investors and communicate effectively.

G20 GLI and the ecopreneurs will again be present at the Sustainability Lounge  to engage with the Summit participants keen to learn about the G20 GLI’s ongoing efforts to drive investment in land restoration and to explore opportunities for collaboration with the startup ecosystem.

The G20 GLI booth will feature dedicated spaces for engaging with ecopreneurs, investors, and other key stakeholders—fostering a unique environment for exchanging ideas and forging new partnerships.

G20 GLI has dedicated two workshops at the Summit. One workshop will focus on navigating the investment landscape for ecopreneurs titled, Investing in Tomorrow: Scaling Green Innovation. The second, jointly organized with Tomorrow in Focus, is titled, Lens on Tomorrow.

A group of men and women sit together Photo credit: UNCCD/G20
G20 GLI Team at the 2024 Start Summit

The START HACK 2025 challenge focuses on a vast semi-arid region, stretching across Africa, which is both ecologically rich and increasingly vulnerable to climate shocks.

Drought, erratic rainfall and rapid population growth in the Sahel have strained natural resources, making resilience a pressing priority. Using geospatial analysis and observation data, participants will analyze land cover changes, develop interactive tools to track ecosystem health and propose solutions to mitigate climate impacts.

The challenge is designed to turn technology and data into actionable strategies for resilience aligned with global efforts to restore land, such as GLI and the UNCCD’s land degradation neutrality.

Whether you are a startup founder, an investor or a sustainability advocate, the START Summit and Hack 2025 are the perfect venues to engage with the future of green innovation and entrepreneurship. Join us and become part of the global movement to restore and protect our planet.