How to include small businesses in national climate plans
The International Trade Centre has introduced a new set of guidelines so that countries can include the strength of small businesses in their policymaking of Nationally Determined Contributions. These plans set out how countries intend to meet their climate goals.
The urgent need to tackle climate change requires collective action from governments, businesses, and civil society.
The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the commitments made by countries under the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep carbon emissions at 1.5C by 2030.
'Why all the fuss about 1.5 degrees? Our planet is a mass of complex, connected systems. And every fraction of a degree of global heating counts,’ UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said recently.
'The difference between 1.5 and two degrees could be the difference between extinction and survival for some small island states and coastal communities.’
Now countries have to submit their third round of submissions (NDC 3.0), which is a critical stage to raise ambition and stay on track to meet the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals of limiting global warming.
One way to do this is to integrate new, less conventional perspectives into climate action.
A viable option is to integrate small business and trade considerations into these NDCs. That has the potential to streamline better economic and climate policies, but also to provide economic growth and a sustainability transition.
The International Trade Centre (ITC) has now made available a new set of guidelines to help countries include micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) into the designing of their NDCs.
As drivers of innovation, employment and growth, MSMEs are the backbone of many economies and represent the majority of businesses globally. At the same time, they are also among the most vulnerable actors to climate change and collectively contribute to a high share of global emissions. Their inclusion in climate strategies is therefore critical to achieving ambitious climate goals.
Despite their importance, MSMEs have often been overlooked in climate policy discussions and rarely targeted as a distinct group.
This guide aims to provide policymakers with guidance on how to better integrate small business and trade considerations into NDCs, particularly in the context of the upcoming NDC 3.0 submissions. It highlights the key role that MSMEs and trade can play in accelerating climate action while promoting inclusion and resilience, particularly in developing countries.
This is practical guidance for policymakers on how to effectively integrate small business and trade considerations, methods for promoting the application of these principles, and steps for successful policy development.
The guidelines emphasize the need to design NDCs and underlying trade-related policy measures in a way that minimizes regulatory and economic costs by considering the specificities and challenges of small businesses.
Click on this link to review the guidelines.
