FOSTERING GREEN BUSINESS GROWTH

Environmental challenges, including climate change, are changing the way businesses work, either because they are forced to or because they proactively seek to. Green businesses are more profitable and future proof. They save scarce resources, help maintain healthy ecosystems, minimize pollution and waste, limit greenhouse emissions, and provide green goods and services that enable more responsible consumption patterns. The business community becomes more competitive while at the same time the jobs produced are supporting a societal change towards greener and healthier lives for people. Therefore, governments and private sector support agencies have a clear role and motive to promote greening of businesses and create an enabling environment for green business and job growth. Green businesses are vital for a development model that delivers a triple bottom-line of prosperity, planet and people. However, sustainability as a business driver is novel, and companies will need support in the process. Therefore, this course capacitates business service providers to support companies in the process towards greening the economy. OBJECTIVES This course provided participants with an increased understanding of: • The business case for greening transitions: Market failures and the rationale for supporting green business growth • The role of SME agencies and business service providers in the green transition • Opportunities and challenges at firm level: the internal and external drivers to going green • How to design an appropriate policy mix to make green business growth happen • Tested tools and approaches to support youth and women entrepreneurship • Policy advocacy tools and approaches to greening of businesses. CONTENT This course provided both a conceptual and practical overview of the policies and instruments countries have at their disposition to support SMEs going green, including: • Green business development services, green business competitions, green business training, marketing • Green innovation models, certification, eco-labelling • Greening business operations and value chains • Green financial instruments: Green loans, green bonds and green investments • Approaches for assessing and building a conducive environment for green businesses ACHIEVEMENT At the end of the course participants were able to: • Review state-of-the-art tools, policies and instruments for supporting greening businesses • Reflect and innovate upon their own service offering towards greening businesses • Share experiences on the challenges and opportunities for supporting green business development in different contexts • Exchange knowledge with a community of green champions, practitioners and high level experts NUMBER OF HOURS: 30