For the first time at this year’s COP28 conference, set in Dubai, UAE, ANDE, together with members and partners, will explicitly explore 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 want to contribute to COP28’s 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 also aims to reinforce our existing partnerships and establish potential collaborations for the future.
Join us for these events
- Find your way to booth 41 and meet us there from December 1 to 3. Connect with other ANDE members and team.
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Don’t have a Blue Zone pass? Only UNFCCC-accredited participants, such as Parties, world leaders, media, and observers, will have access to this sector. If you don’t have a pass, reach out to our Climate Manager, Laura Simmons-Stern (Laura.Simmons-Stern@aspeninstitute.org), to schedule a meeting outside the Blue Zone!”
ANDE’s Executive Director, Richenda Van Leeuwen and Brian E. Kurtz, Chair of the Climate Tech Association, will lead a fireside chat within the Startup Nation’s forum on Scaling Resilience Climate Solutions. | Green Zone’s Terra Pavilion, at 5:40 pm.
Reception: You are invited to an exclusive event focused on clean energy, livelihoods, health, and entrepreneurship. This reception will be co-hosted with The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). It is an opportunity to network with the ANDE team and members, the IRENA team, partners and friends, with remarks from Richenda Van Leeuwen, Executive Director of ANDE, and Gauri Singh, Deputy Director General of IRENA. | Global Renewables Hub, Mobility District, Blue Zone, the event starts at 6 pm.
- Panel discussion: Entrepreneurial Impact of Youth-Led Energy and Clean Technology Startups Youth in Energy Stocktake. | Youth & Children Pavilion, from 10.05 am to 11 am (GST)
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Roundtable discussion: Actionable steps for supporting renewable energy SGBs. Be part of an intimate discussion to learn where we see climate action in the ecosystem going forward.| Global Renewables Hub (roundtable meeting room on the first floor) 4 pm to 5:15 pm.
Official Side Event. We will close the conference on December 9 with a panel in collaboration with REEEP – Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, Practical Action, and CGIAR.
Our focus will be on the ecosystem and entrepreneurial approaches to the use of renewable energy technologies to support regenerative agriculture and agri-food value chains. | It will be live-streamed on YouTube and the UNFCCC website or in person at SE Room 3 from 11:30 to 1:00 GST.
ANDE Members Activated at COP28
You may want to check out the many events hosted in Dubai by our network! Here is just a sample of entrepreneurship meetings happening at the climate summit.
Mobilizing finance and technology to empower SGBs. ANDE global climate framework for sustainable business ecosystems and renewable energy integration in agriculture.
SGBs' have a critical role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
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.
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.
About ANDE's work in Climate and Environmental Action
The ANDE Climate and Environmental Action Initiative was launched in 2020 to address the myriad of challenges that prevent green entrepreneurs within the broader SGB sector. From optimizing their contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation and shepherding sustainable and resilient development, SGBs are well-placed to scale environmental solutions and cultivate more resilient economies.
Through research, convening, training, and advocacy, this initiative seeks to close critical gaps in financing and capacity building services tailored to the unique needs of green entrepreneurs and draw attention and funding towards climate action champions across entrepreneurship ecosystems. Recognizing the unequal burden of climate impacts, the initiative will also advance ecosystem support for women and minority groups. Finally, the initiative endeavors to establish a shared understanding of what successful climate action looks like and how to measure it within the SGB sector.
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.
ANDE and the IKEA Foundation partnered 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 to grow
Climate change and environmental degradation place significant stress on India’s biodiversity, food supply, water and energy security, and human health. The private sector will play a critical role in achieving these objectives, particularly growth-oriented entrepreneurship that can bring new ideas into practice, introduce technical innovations, and create demand for new environmentally friendly goods and services. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), green entrepreneurs address climate change and/or create a positive environmental value either through the process of delivering products/services (e.g., utilizing clean technologies) or by working in a green sector (e.g., waste management). Such
entrepreneurs tackle climate change from multiple angles.
This report establishes a baseline understanding of the state of green entrepreneurship in India by assessing existing business models, the available financial and technical support for entrepreneurs, and key sectoral issues regarding the policy landscape and market opportunity. The purpose of the study is to inform decision-makers, such as policymakers, donors, investors, and business development service providers, of the primary trends, opportunities, and challenges in the green entrepreneurial ecosystem in India.
This report establishes a baseline understanding of the state of green entrepreneurship in Kenya by assessing existing business models, the available financial and technical support for entrepreneurs, and key sectoral issues regarding the policy landscape and market opportunity. The purpose of the study is to inform decision-makers, such as policymakers, donors, investors, and business development service providers, of the primary trends, opportunities, and challenges in the green entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kenya.
The damaging effects of climate change in India are all-encompassing, threatening agriculture and food supplies, energy security, water security, and public health. To ameliorate climate and environmental challenges, India has committed to a green economic transition through various government policies and initiatives. India has the the world’s third largest entrepreneurial ecosystem after the United States and China, and an increasing number of sustainability-oriented startups, investors, incubators, and accelerators in India is shaping a vibrant green ecosystem. This report examines the ecosystem of support for green entrepreneurs in India. Using data collected via surveys and desk research, this snapshot report uncovers important challenges and opportunities for green entrepreneurship to inform stakeholders of how to better support the development of India’s green economy.
Climate change and environmental degradation pose a significant threat to Kenya’s economy. To combat these challenges, Kenya has supported a green economic transition through various government policies and initiatives. Green entrepreneurs play an important role in helping the country reach these climate and environmental targets by meeting consumer needs in a sustainable manner. This report examines the ecosystem of support for green entrepreneurs in Kenya. Using data collected via surveys and desk research, this snapshot report uncovers important challenges and opportunities for green entrepreneurship to inform stakeholders of how to better support the development of Kenya’s green economy.
The SME Climate Hub 2023 Survey is a comprehensive report based on a survey of 2,800 SMEs from around the world conducted in late 2022. The report delves into the current state of climate action and sustainable business practices in SMEs. According to the survey findings, SMEs are becoming increasingly concerned about climate change and are taking steps to reduce their environmental impact. However, many SMEs continue to face significant challenges in implementing sustainable practices, such as a lack of access to finance and technical expertise. The report also emphasizes the importance of governments and financial institutions in assisting SMEs in making the transition to more sustainable business practices. Overall, the SME Climate Hub 2023 Survey offers useful insights into the challenges and opportunities that SMEs face as they navigate the transition to a more sustainable future.
"This report emphasizes the urgency to transition from the "Age of Innovation" to the "Age of Adoption" in response to climate change impacts by 2030. It identifies the critical need for the widespread implementation and scaling of existing climate technologies, and problematizes the gap between the availability of viable climate solutions and the slow pace of their adoption. It explores what will it take to deploy innovations at scale, aiming to understand the barriers hindering the widespread implementation of climate innovations. It identifies the pivotal role of climate finance in facilitating large-scale adoption, and underscores the necessity for collaborative efforts among various financial stakeholders, such as venture capital, private equity, foundations, and corporates, to devise innovative financial mechanisms. The report showcases how these financial innovations combine grants, equity, and debt to address climate challenges effectively. Finally, it stresses the need for specialized climate finance to bring innovations to the market swiftly, and emphasizes collaborative efforts among diverse capital allocators to develop creative and collaborative climate finance strategies."
With support from the IKEA Foundation, ANDE released new research on the market potential for green entrepreneurship in Kenya and India. These reports use new data to assess the state of green entrepreneurship in each country, available financial and technical support for SGBs, and key challenges and opportunities facing stakeholders. The reports also offer detailed looks at eleven key green sectors, including common business models and estimation of market potential between 2022 - 2030.
According to groundbreaking research in India and Kenya, catalyzing green entrepreneurship in small and medium-sized businesses represents a trillion-dollar opportunity in those countries.
“It was a turning point for me,” said Ruchi Jain, Founder and CEO of Taru Naturals, about her trip to the villages of small-scale farmers in India struggling with the effects of climate change. “I realized that if you want to make a big impact on the world, you have to be grassroots based—it has to be a movement.” Since then, Jain has grown Taru Naturals into a fair-trade network connecting over 10,000 tribal and small-scale organic farmers across India to the resources and training they need to grow climate-resilient crops and markets to sell their products.
Our ANDE members are true heroes. They are saving the world one step at a time through taking climate action.
#SGBClimateChampions is a global ANDE campaign that aims to share the stories and experiences of our members across ANDE’s network from all eight chapters. These will highlight successful climate business models and share knowledge on how SGBs and ESOs can incorporate climate lenses into their work.
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:
- Supporting and scaling “cleantech” and conservation-focused SGBs that help mitigate climate change and environmental degradation.
- Supporting and scaling SGBs that help communities adapt to climate change.
- Helping SGBs and SGB intermediaries increase the environmental sustainability of their own operations.
