Regeneration wins World Economic Forum land restoration challenge

Regeneration has been named a winner of the World Economic Forum’s Scaling Land Restoration Challenge, gaining access to UpLink’s innovation network as it works to pair mineral recovery with restoration at legacy mine sites. The recognition could help the company expand a model aimed at unlocking private capital, restoring degraded land and supporting critical minerals supply.

Why it matters: - Regeneration’s model links mineral recovery and land restoration at legacy mine sites, creating a potential path to restore degraded land while generating value from mine waste. - The approach is aimed at attracting private capital to projects that can produce measurable restoration outcomes and community benefits. - The challenge spotlight matters because millions of hectares of land worldwide have been degraded by past industrial activity, including mining.

What happened: - Regeneration was selected as a winner of the Scaling Land Restoration Challenge. - UpLink and Mercuria led the challenge in collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s Nature Positive Transitions Initiative. - The announcement was dated Sept. 22, 2026. - Regeneration was recognized for a post-mining land restoration approach that connects recovery of valuable minerals from legacy mine sites with restoration of degraded lands.

The details: - The challenge evaluated early-stage ventures from around the world that are developing solutions to accelerate and commercialize ecosystem restoration, including post-mining recovery. - Winning ventures showed solutions that can unlock private capital and deliver measurable restoration outcomes. - Regeneration says the model unlocks stranded value in metals and puts that value to work for restoration. - Legacy mine sites can serve as platforms for restoration, responsible mineral supply and community value creation. - Regeneration works with Indigenous and local communities, governments, mining companies, technology providers and other partners. - The company has active projects in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. - Stephen D’Esposito, founder and CEO of Regeneration, said the recognition helps bring the solution to a global audience and connect the company with partners needed to scale. - Gillian Davidson, co-founder and chief sustainability officer, said the company needs new models that can deliver more minerals while increasing biodiversity protection, restoring degraded landscapes and creating tangible benefits for communities. - As a winner, Regeneration joins the World Economic Forum’s UpLink innovation ecosystem, which is designed to help early-stage ventures build partnerships, access new markets and scale solutions.

Between the lines: - The win reflects growing interest in business models that combine environmental restoration with critical minerals supply. - Regeneration’s framing suggests mine waste is moving from being treated as a liability to being treated as a resource for both restoration and supply chain resilience. - The challenge’s focus on commercializability signals that restoration projects may need revenue-generating components to scale.

What's next: - Regeneration is expected to use the UpLink network to pursue partnerships and market access. - The company will likely continue advancing projects in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. - The broader test will be whether the model can scale into repeatable projects that deliver both restoration outcomes and mineral recovery.

The bottom line: - Regeneration’s win gives a boost to a model that tries to turn legacy mine waste into a financing engine for land restoration and responsible mineral recovery.