WSDS 2025 Thematic Track-Unlocking Opportunities for SME Financing and Capacity-building in Emerging Markets
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a major role in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) - driving economic growth, creating employment opportunities, and supporting the creation of a vibrant local economy.
At the same time, SMEs are disproportionately vulnerable to climate-related risks and shocks. SMEs play a vital role in a just transition that delivers equitable human and economic development. Recognizing these challenges and opportunities, particularly across emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), the COP29 High-Level Champion (HLC), Nigar Arparadai, launched the “Climate Proofing SMEs” campaign to improve SMEs’ awareness of and access to relevant capacity building measures and opportunities to access finance - so they too can thrive in the green transition.
In India and EMDEs in the region, partnership-based models for supporting access to finance and capacity building for formalized SMEs are helping SMEs overcome the multi-fold challenges they continue to face.
This roundtable will bring together organizations providing support to SMEs in the region through the Climate-Proofing SMEs campaign, alongside SMEs and leading organizations in the region - to share experience-based insights on opportunities and a way forward to empower SMEs in the context of the evolving impacts of climate change.
Objectives of the thematic track
The objectives of this session/track are to create a platform for:
- Exploring key enablers/ opportunities in enabling access to formal finance and capacity-building for SMEs in emerging markets, towards building their resilience to climate impacts
- Knowledge-sharing on the regional EMDE-specific landscape - of existing support and resources for scaling access for finance for SMEs, and lessons learnt
- Highlighting the role of SME ecosystem builders, financial institutions, and partnerships in climate-proofing SMEs in emerging markets, including through