Comments and Questions

OverviewThis paper describes the importance of SMEs and low-carbon SMEs in particular and identifies their challenges. These are barriers to access capital/finance, talent and the market. In order to target these challenges, the authors advise to follow their three major recommendations. First, the establishment of a reporting system to help monitor the scale-up of green-technology SMEs could lower financial asymmetries and signal green, innovative SMEs to domestic and international investors. Second, they propose to include green-technology firms in green finance platforms and third, they emphasize the role of governments and intergovernmental bodies which can signal innovative green-technology SMEs to private investors. General commentsThe respective paper is written understandably for a broad spectrum of readers. It makes very clear, what the challenges to promote innovative green-technology SMEs as an opportunity for financial de-risking are and why this is important. It clearly addresses what the role of the G20 is.The relevance of SMEs to address major global problems is given. Specific commentsIn the challenge section, the definition of low-carbon SMEs is a bit vague. They are merely described as SMEs “whose business model includes: (1) “any product, process or service designed with the primary purpose of contributing to remediating or preventing any type of environmental damage”; and (2) any “product, process or service that is less polluting or more resource-efficient than equivalent normal products that furnish a similar utility””. This definition leaves a very broad scope and there is no threshold from where a SME counts as a low-carbon SME.The map in Figure 1 shows no data for North America and Australia although they are also part of the G20.