Be Sustainable, 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. A report by Morgan Stanley found that climate related disasters cost the world 650 billion USD between 2016 and 2018. Discounted damages due to delayed climate mitigation action were expected to rise by 600 billion USD per year in 2020.

This does not have to be the future. A UK Commission found investing 1.9 trillion USD globally in clean energies and resilience from 2020 to 2030 could guarantee 7 trillion USD in total net benefits. A report by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate concluded that moving to a low-carbon and sustainable economic growth path could generate 65 million new jobs and create a direct economic gain of 26 trillion USD by 2030 compared to ‘business-as-usual’. Santander is a part of this green future and is one of the world's largest green finance providers. Santander is a member of the Nasdaq sustainable bond network and has issued 2 EUR billion of green bonds since 2019.

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 invest / finance projects that want to support economic activities with positive environmental impact, then this call is for you.