Be Mindful, Santander X Environmental Challenge

In Santander X, we believe in the power of leaders, creators, innovators, people who think ahead and different, who see problems as opportunities, in other words, we believe in high-impact entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs have been tested with uncertainty, vulnerability, peer pressure, and risk of failure, but still, have managed to thrive and change the course of human history. This time will not be any different!

There is no single challenge today greater than climate change. The Earth's average surface temperature has risen by 1.18 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century. According to the UN IPCC, limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will still lead to rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. The impact of climate change is already being felt, with NASA reporting increasing numbers of record high temperature events and intense rainfall events.

Lockdowns forced by the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted rare sightings of blue skies from Beijing to Delhi, and CO2 emissions worldwide dropped by 6.4% in 2020. This global pause has forced individuals to think about the threat of climate change and how their actions affect the environment around them, which is intrinsically linked to human health and prosperity. At the same time, individuals and organisations have seen how they can make a difference to global challenges. Santander is part of this and has issued 2 billion EUR of green bonds since 2019. Santander's sustainable financing supports renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, sustainable agriculture, green bonds and low carbon vehicle financing.

Successful entrepreneurs try to solve tomorrow's problems with today's emerging technologies or resources. That is why we have created the “Santander X Environmental Challenge”: a global call with 120 thousand euros in prize funding to support the visionary entrepreneurs who are focused on addressing the Earth's greatest environmental challenges today.

If you are a co-founder of an early-stage startup that is developing solutions to measure and mitigate the environmental footprint, or solutions to transform habits of organizations and individuals to generate positive environmental changes then this call is for you.