Climate change adaptation and smaller businesses in the Global South: defining roles, limitations, and touch points for positive interventions for MSMEs situated in developing countrues

How the private sector engages in adaptation represents a significant research gap in the climate change adaptation field, with focus traditionally falling upon adaptation at a household-, community- and national-level. In the last decade
however, the private sector has begun to receive greater attention, particularly with regards to how it can contribute to achieving global adaptation goals. In this shift however, emphasis has mainly been upon the role that large, commonly multinational enterprises are able to play and as such, the Micro, Small, and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs) segment of the private sector have largely been neglected; particularly those situated in developing countries. This working paper represents an initial attempt to outline how MSMEs situated in developing countries fit into the present discourse surrounding private sector adaptation, as well as highlighting potential touch points that can allow practitioners to make positive interventions in this field. The paper analyses the present discourse on twolevels, namely: (1) how private sector adaptation is represented in international frameworks and agreements, and how such instruments consider MSME actors; and (2) how MSMEs in developing countries have been defined as adaptation actors thus far. In determining potential touch points, the paper draws upon the preliminary learnings of UNEP DTU Partnership’s ‘Building Businesses’ Climate Resilience’ (BBCR) project to identify the more tangible aspects of engaging MSMEs located in developing countries, in adaptation enhancing interventions and capacity building initiatives.

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