Unlocking Climate Finance for Women-led Enterprises in Nepal: Ground-level Insights

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative, in collaboration with ForestAction-Nepal and the Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies, examines the barriers women-led enterprises (WLEs) in Nepal's agriculture and forestry sectors face when accessing climate finance. Based on a survey of 200 WLEs across 40 districts, the document highlights how gender-specific constraints, climate vulnerability, and a lack of formal financial access hinder the scalability of these enterprises.

• Nepal faces a significant climate financing gap, estimated at USD 6.7 billion per year by 2035 according to NDC 3.0, which restricts investments in sustainable growth and resilience.
• Women-led enterprises (WLEs) face severe operational and market constraints, with over 70% relying on local markets and struggling with high transport costs, raw material shortages, and low digital literacy.
• Gender-specific barriers, including limited control over productive assets, decision-making, mobility restrictions, and disproportionate household care burdens, make challenges more acute for female entrepreneurs compared to men.
• Climate shocks disproportionately affect WLEs; 65% of surveyed enterprises reported being affected by such shocks, yet only 37% of those affected felt they were adequately prepared.
• Formal finance is largely inaccessible to WLEs, with 88% relying on personal savings and only 56% accessing formal finance due to issues like collateral gaps, procedural complexity, and misaligned products.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2026). Unlocking Climate Finance for Women-led Enterprises in Nepal: Ground-level Insights. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/unlocking-climate-finance-for-women-led-enterprises-in-nepal-ground-level-insights/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Unlocking Climate Finance for Women-led Enterprises in Nepal: Ground-level Insights. 2026. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/unlocking-climate-finance-for-women-led-enterprises-in-nepal-ground-level-insights/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Unlocking Climate Finance for Women-led Enterprises in Nepal: Ground-level Insights |date=22 January 2026 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/unlocking-climate-finance-for-women-led-enterprises-in-nepal-ground-level-insights/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2026unlocking, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Unlocking Climate Finance for Women-led Enterprises in Nepal: Ground-level Insights}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2026}, month = jan, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/unlocking-climate-finance-for-women-led-enterprises-in-nepal-ground-level-insights/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }