Climate change as a topic has gained great interest all over the world and countries and organizations are increasingly in need of such information as will help in mitigating the adverse effects of climate changes. This research aimed to deepen knowledge on the roles played by the private sector including Small and Medium Enterprises on climate finance and environmental sustainability. The research explores the rise of the private sector involvement in climate finance with a focus on SME’s. There however are not many studies that gather and systematize the available knowledge about the issue of SMEs’ involvement in environmental sustainability and the concern with sustainable development in the face of climatic changes. This paper presents the analysis and main gaps from a systematic review of literature together with empirical studies based on the exploration of private sector roles including SME’s in climate finance. The research drew upon both primary and secondary sources including websites, journals, memoirs, published papers, letters and a collection of primary sources within the scope of study. The overall approach of this research was inductive whereby it was concerned with the creation of new body of knowledge from the data that was generated and analyzed whose findings were summarized. Key findings were that most prior research dwelt on generation of awareness about changing climates and increasing research in the area of climate finance, though most SMEs and the private sector have not actively been participating in the area. The research concluded that the private sector needs to play a greater and non-partisan role in sponsoring formulation of policies, generation of finance and sustaining awareness in the area of climate finance. The key recommendations from this study included a shift from generation of finance to sustainability of the financing solutions that will have lasting solutions.
Elias B. Walela & Peter K. Kahihu (2023) Exploration of the Private Sector Roles Including Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) in Climate Finance, International Journal of Weather, Climate Change and Conservation Research, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 39-56
Keywords: Climate Change, Environmental sustainability, Private Sector, Sustainability, climate finance, financial management
