Green business, real impact: how the young generation can lead green business to save our future

Author: Jiamian Wang, Intern, UNCCD G20 Global Land Initiative | April 20, 2026

Two women holding a tree sapling in Kenya

Photo credit: UNCCD/G20 Global Land Initiative

What happens when bold ideas, green technologies and impactful vision collide? We created a webinar that proves land restoration isn’t just an environmental goal, it’s a business opportunity with planet‑scale impact.

At the latest Generation Restoration Dialogue, hosted by the G20 Global Land Initiative, young voices and a senior expert explore how land restoration can be practical, profitable, and powerful.

From degraded land to sustainable business and livelihoods

Paola Medina Agromayor, co-founder of a Senegal-based social enterprise, shared how reforestation and agroforestry can transform exhausted farmland into multi-use, income-generating farms. Their solution blends bamboo‑based greenhouses with trees surrounding that cool the land, restore soils and generate income clusters, proving that sustainable land management works best when larger economic benefits are produced for farmers.

This isn’t a charity or intangible framework. It’s a real green business that is sustainable and saleable.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, Carlos Gonzalez is turning agricultural waste into climate gold. His startup uses biochar, produced through low‑cost pyrolysis, to achieve soil regeneration, boost crop productivity and store carbon in the long term. When ancient wisdom meets modern technology, the land is revitalized through regenerative agriculture, empowering smallholder farmers and healing our planet.

Why this matters now

Together, these stories hit home one clear message: climate‑smart agriculture is no longer optional but essential. Across the world, farmers are facing rising heat, unpredictable rainfall and declining yields. Solutions like agroforestry systems, soil amendments and water‑efficient facilities don’t just adapt to climate change, but actively reverse damage and protect people’s livelihoods.

And yes, they pencil out financially.

From improved soil health to new revenue streams through carbon markets, these attempts are environmental restoration combined with business blueprints. The webinar hammered home a central truth: restoration efforts can be organically scalable when it nurtures livelihoods.

A call to the next generation

Veteran land restoration leader Dr Tony Simons offered a reality check: 90% of startups fail—but those rooted in vision, resilience and belief go the distance. His advice? Be bold, be honest, but never shift risk onto people who live on the land there – this is the essence of sustainable business.

The takeaway was loud and clear: to lead green businesses that save our planet, ecotrepreneurs should grow their business through their passion, innovation, and dedication.

The bottom line

This webinar didn’t just talk about saving land. It showed how land restoration, regenerative agriculture, soil regeneration, and more are shaping a green economy, the one led by the next generation, powered by innovation and grounded in communities.

The sustainable future of our planet isn’t waiting. It’s being built and approaching, one step at a time.

Director's Message

The year 2024 was pivotal for the Global Land Initiative. Land degradation and restoration remained prominent on the global policy agenda throughout.

The UN Environmental Assembly, G7 Leaders’ Summit, G20 Environment and Climate Change Ministers’ meeting, and BRICS Leaders’ Summit addressed land degradation and committed to scaling up land restoration efforts.

The European Union passed a new Restoration Law mandating quantitative targets for land restoration. The UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD Conferences of the Parties (COPs), held during the last quarter of the year, reinforced land restoration as a crucial solution to combat land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.

Building on this favorable policy momentum, the Global Land Initiative continued to develop and deliver a robust program. In collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), we completed a database on Global Restoration Commitments by countries under the UNCCD, UNCBD, UNFCCC and the Bonn Challenge.

Representing a significant increase in global commitments since 2021, the total global commitment now stands at 1.2 billion hectares, with 30 countries, including 11 G20 members, pledging to restore over 10 million hectares each.

The UNCCD, with financial support from the Global Land Initiative, published the first global restoration economy international report, titled, Investing in Land’s Future: Financial needs assessment for UNCCD. The report defines the private sector’s growing role in land restoration and its potential for creating green jobs.

The study outlines key recommendations to support the growth of the restoration economy, which has an associated market survey valued at $37 billion globally, growing at 8.2% annually and is projected to reach $70 billion by 2031. Together, these studies stressed the need for focused policy action to encourage private sector investment and engagement in the restoration economy.

Working with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the Global Land Initiative launched the first cohort of the “Global Ecopreneurs Program,” training 100 young entrepreneurs from restoration startups. These entrepreneurs received training on improving business plans and pitching to investors. We plan to scale this program regionally to reach 10,000 ecopreneurs by 2029.

Training remained a cornerstone of the Global Land Initiative, with programs on the restoration of mining areas, of urban lands, of lowland-based systems, of drylands and with biosaline agriculture. These trainings consistently attracted more applications than available slots. To accommodate this high demand and broader participation, we also conducted online webinars on these topics, in English, Arabic and French.

The first University Curriculum Course on Sustainable Agriculture for Land Restoration was launched this year. It reached over 400 university teachers, with over 100 trained on implementing the curriculum. A university module on urban land restoration is in its final stages.

Representatives from 25 countries attended the second Global Changemaker Academy for Parliamentarians held in Bonn. With the European Union Restoration Law’s passage, global best practices can now be discussed and adapted to national contexts.

The Global Land Initiative’s visibility surged with participation in the G20 Environment and Climate Change Working Group meetings in Brazil, the COPs of the UNCBD and UNCCD and 7 other international exhibitions. In December, the Initiative, in partnership with Germany’s Federal Museum of Arts and Sciences, opened the Save Land: United for Land Museum Exhibition, the first museum exhibition on land restoration, which will run until June 2025.

Online engagement grew, reaching over 35,000 newsletter subscribers and over 14,000 followers across social media platforms, and a global reach of nearly 400,000. The Global Photography Festival, which attracted 17,000 entries from 154 countries, further boosted visibility.

The Global Restoration Information Hub was launched in July 2024. It is a compilation of globally available data on land restoration from credible sources. The site provides information on global best practices, restoration commitments, best practice legislations, documentaries, restoration actors and other databases.

The Initiative issued a global call for communities and NGOs to submit their restoration projects for small grant support, receiving over 600 submissions from 100 countries. Forty-one projects from XX countries were selected for funding.

[Statement on faith, if the faith report is finalized]

The G20 Global Land Initiative Steering Committee was kept informed of developments through regular communication. It met in July and continues to provide guidance on program implementation. It received the work plan for 2025-26; an exciting period of action is ahead.

Executive Director's Message

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