1887

OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Papers

The series provides comparative evidence and analysis on SME and entrepreneurship performance and trends and on a broad range of policy areas, including SME financing, innovation, productivity, skills, internationalisation, and others.

English

Financing SMEs for sustainability

Drivers, Constraints and Policies

Addressing the climate crisis requires the net zero transition of millions of SMEs globally. SMEs have a significant aggregate environmental footprint and need to adopt cleaner business models. As eco-entrepreneurs and eco-innovators, they also have a key role to play in devising innovative climate solutions. Access to finance is essential for SME investments in net zero, but small businesses face considerable challenges in tapping into the growing pool of sustainable finance. This challenge is likely to grow as financial institutions seek to comply with mandatory environmental reporting requirements. This policy paper examines the sustainable finance landscape for SMEs, the various actors in the ecosystem and the key drivers and barriers affecting the supply of and demand for sustainable finance. It provides an overview of the key policies and instruments in place to support SME access to sustainable finance and identifies considerations for future public support and policy making.

English

Keywords: net zero, ESG, SMEs, small and medium sized enterprises, start-ups, small business, sustainable finance, climate change, entrepreneurship, government policies
JEL: G38: Financial Economics / Corporate Finance and Governance / Corporate Finance and Governance: Government Policy and Regulation; H25: Public Economics / Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue / Business Taxes and Subsidies; G39: Financial Economics / Corporate Finance and Governance / Corporate Finance and Governance: Other; L26: Industrial Organization / Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior / Entrepreneurship; L53: Industrial Organization / Regulation and Industrial Policy / Enterprise Policy; Q54: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming; M13: Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics / Business Administration / New Firms; Startups; H32: Public Economics / Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents / Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Firm; Q58: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Environmental Economics: Government Policy
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