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SGBs' have a critical role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Women in a wind farm. Clean energy.
Funding Opportunity
Research on Women-led Clean Energy Enterprises

Clean energy entrepreneurship is notably challenging for women, hindered by limited funding, networking, and partnership opportunities, cultural norms, inflexible workplaces, and scarce mentorship. These issues are more pronounced in the male-dominated renewable sector. To address this, the International Development Research Centre and ANDE have launched a project to fund research on these challenges, offering six grants of up to USD 60,000 each for studies on women in clean energy.

ANDE's work in Climate and Environmental Action

Launched in 2020, the ANDE Climate and Environmental Action Initiative targets the complex challenges hindering green entrepreneurs in the broader SGB sector. These businesses are crucial for scaling environmental solutions and fostering resilient economies through their contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The initiative employs research, convening, training, and advocacy to bridge significant financing and capacity-building gaps for green entrepreneurs, emphasizing their distinctive needs. It aims to spotlight and boost funding for climate action leaders within entrepreneurial ecosystems. Acknowledging the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and minority groups, the initiative also prioritizes support for these communities. A key goal is to cultivate a common understanding of effective climate action and its measurement within the SGB sector.

Entrepreneurs tackling climate change

Small and Growing Businesses  (SGBs) are in a unique position to provide climate solutions. ANDE scales ecosystems supporting green entrepreneurs to advance global goals, pushing climate action, and ensuring clean water, sanitation, and affordable, clean energy by 2030.

Climate change presents unique challenges and opportunities 

SGBs must be involved in mitigation, adaptation, and resilience-building efforts, and they need support.

“Green entrepreneurs” are developing, deploying, and expanding localized solutions to global climate crises, yet only 2% of incubators and accelerators focus on climate challenges worldwide. One example is Mark Kebo Akparibo, founder of Tele-Bere Green AgroFarms. They are revolutionizing agriculture in Ghana’s semi-arid Northern Savanna.

“Green entrepreneurs” are developing, deploying, and expanding localized solutions to global climate crises, yet only 2% of incubators and accelerators focus on climate challenges worldwide. One example is Mark Kebo Akparibo, founder of Tele-Bere Green AgroFarms. They are revolutionizing agriculture in Ghana’s semi-arid Northern Savanna.

As part of ANDE’s Accelerating Women Climate Entrepreneurs (AWCE) program, Tele-Bere received funding support from ANDE member FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. Watch this video to learn more about their entrepreneurial journey.

 

Kenya SGB Circular Economy UNDP
Access to Green Finance Project

In partnership with the IKEA Foundation, ANDE launched the second phase of its initiative supporting green entrepreneurship in India and Kenya. The program seeks to help ensure a smooth transition to a greener, more inclusive economy in which green entrepreneurs can thrive and create good jobs. Through this partnership, ANDE conducted research on the green enterprise economy and brought together donors, investors, enterprise support organizations, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to identify and support solutions that help green enterprises in India and Kenya grow.

Ghana, African Fabrics. Jacek_Sopotnicki from Getty Images
Accelerating Women Climate Entrepreneurs

ANDE, along with the Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC) and World University Service of Canada (WUSC), and support from Global Affairs Canada (GAC), aim to build the gender-lens investing ecosystem for growth-oriented women entrepreneurs to start and grow climate-related businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa through this project. AWCE will contribute to poverty reduction by identifying and promoting good practices to support women entrepreneurs in climate-related value chains and developing a road map for international development stakeholders to provide further gender-responsive support to women climate entrepreneurs and intermediaries.

DUBAI Skyline COP28

For the first time, at the COP28 conference, set in Dubai, UAE, ANDE, together with members and partners, explicitly explored the intricate nexus between food, land use, and the unfolding climate emergency.
With global experience in supporting entrepreneurship in the agribusiness sector, ANDE and its members contributed to the climate summit agenda by highlighting this vital area and the policies and financial support needed to strengthen progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Entrepreneurship with a well-calibrated climate lens can make a difference. ANDE members have been actively involved in climate action, and our organization has increased its advocacy efforts throughout this year, participating in all major global gatherings.

ANDE’s presence at COP28 reinforced many existing partnerships and established potential collaborations for the future.

A Global Campaign That Makes The Case For Climate SGBs And ESOs (1)
Campaign
SGB Climate Champions

ANDE members are helping adapt and prepare for climate change one step at a time by taking climate action.

SGB Climate Champions is a global ANDE campaign that aims to share the stories and experiences of our members across ANDE’s network from all eight chapters. The campaign highlights successful climate business models and shares knowledge on how SGBs and ESOs can incorporate climate lenses into their work.

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Issue Brief
Climate and Environmental Action in the SGB Sector

The SGB sector has an important role to play in taking positive climate and environmental action. Broadly, SGBs can advance SGBs 6, 7, and 13 through three categories of action:

  1. Supporting and scaling “cleantech” and conservation-focused SGBs that help mitigate climate change and environmental degradation.
  2. Supporting and scaling SGBs that help communities adapt to climate change.
  3. Helping SGBs and SGB intermediaries increase the environmental sustainability of their own operations.
Activities under ANDE’s Climate and Environmental Initiative are possible thanks to support from: