A thousand millennials aged 19 to 35 from 106 countries have gathered in Singapore to come up with innovative solutions to global issues like climate change, economic inequality and sustainable consumption.

The aspiring entrepreneurs were at Nanyang Technological University's The Wave sports hall yesterday for the opening of the second annual Unleash Innovation Lab.

In the coming days, they will work in groups of five to tackle an issue related to one of eight tracks corresponding to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr Lee Zhong Han, 20, is one of the 90 Singaporeans at Unleash this year. He believes the conference is important as it "brings people from all over the world that are hungry for change".

"Global problems need global solutions," he said.

On June 5, the "talents" will pitch their solutions to experts before showcasing them at Suntec Convention Centre, where they will be meeting potential investors.

"These young people have ideas, and some of these great ideas may be killed in large organisations," said Dr Flemming Besenbacher, chairman of Unleash.