ANDE emphasized that SGBs across the Global South are already scaling viable climate innovations, urging policymakers to integrate these entrepreneurs into climate strategies and direct finance toward their proven solutions.
Entrepreneurs at the Frontline: Small Businesses Powering Global Climate Solutions
As the conference opened, leaders walked the same streets as community advocates, Indigenous representatives, and small-business entrepreneurs—a daily reminder that global climate agendas must be grounded in lived experience.
ANDE’s message throughout sessions on blended finance, adaptation, and inclusive transitions was clear: SGBs are already delivering climate solutions, and policymakers must intentionally integrate them into climate strategies. These businesses are not peripheral actors; they are central to building resilient, low-carbon economies.
Across panel discussions and side events, ANDE highlighted what its members see every day: SGBs in the Global South are building commercially viable climate businesses at remarkable speed. Solar cold chains, regenerative agriculture models, biodegradable materials, and circular manufacturing solutions—all demonstrate both environmental value and financial soundness.
The data reinforce this reality. These enterprises show strong revenue trajectories and increasing investment readiness. They are not charity cases—they are engines of climate resilience. This evidence underpins ANDE’s advocacy, from the SME Climate Hub to its 2025 global policy letter, which calls for climate finance to shift more directly toward the entrepreneurs driving impactful change.
This message reinforced ANDE’s ongoing advocacy through the SME Climate Hub and this year’s global policy letter, which urge climate finance and enabling policies that are accessible to smaller businesses. The goal is not to create parallel systems but to adapt existing mechanisms so they work for enterprises already operating in climate-critical sectors.
In São Paulo, ANDE hosted an interactive Climate Connections event. The gathering brought together more than sixty organizations and featured eight examples from both international and Brazilian ESOs. These cases highlighted the innovative, tangible climate solutions emerging across the ecosystem, and demonstrated the value of convening practitioners who are advancing climate action on the ground.
Putting Small and Growing Businesses at the Center of Climate Action
From São Paulo: Where Climate Conversations Begin
To Belém: Where Local Realities Meet Global Decisions
Why COP in Brazil Matters
Looking Ahead: COP as a Starting Point
ANDE Member Highlights at COP30
Brazilian Climate Innovation Takes the Global Stage
Impact Hub São Paulo’s contributions at COP30 showcased the strength and maturity of Brazil’s impact ecosystem. The progress made—across innovation, investment, collaboration, and narrative-building—directly supports ANDE Brasil’s priorities and establishes a strong foundation for continued momentum in 2025. Together with partners across the ANDE network, we remain committed to transforming territorial solutions into systemic climate impact and advancing a new climate economy rooted in local ingenuity.