Building Movements of MSMEs within India’s Transition to an Inclusive Green Economy

This event report documents the Green Economy Coalition (GEC) Global Annual Meeting held in New Delhi from 4-6 February 2020. The meeting focused on the role of Local Green Enterprises (LGEs)—environmentally conscious Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)—in India's transition to an inclusive green economy. The report details global trends in sustainable finance, the application of Gandhian philosophy to local development, sector-specific challenges for Indian LGEs, and policy recommendations for the Government of India and UN-PAGE bodies to create a more supportive ecosystem for green entrepreneurship.

• Local Green Enterprises (LGEs) are defined as environmentally conscious MSMEs that base their business models on resource efficiency, social justice, and valuing nature. They are viewed as essential for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and empowering socially, economically, and environmentally backward communities.
• In India, MSMEs are significant economic drivers, consisting of approximately 36.1 million units that contribute 37% of the GDP and employ nearly 20% of the workforce, creating four out of every five new job positions.
• LGEs in India face significant financial barriers; according to the International Finance Corporation (2017), only 12-16% of enterprises have access to formal finance. Consequently, 67% of finance for small businesses in India is sourced informally from friends, family, and money lenders.
• The report identifies specific roadblocks and opportunities across high-impact sectors in India: construction LGEs benefit from National Green Tribunal mandates on fly ash bricks; the energy sector requires more incentives for decentralized solar; tourism LGEs struggle with insurance and support systems; and the waste sector requires the formalization of the informal sector to improve working conditions and collection efficiency.
• The meeting emphasized a 'Scaling-Out' rather than 'Scaling-Up' approach to entrepreneurship, arguing that an obsession with scale can create contradictions with sustainability and lead to the failure of MSME ecosystems.
• The Delhi Declaration calls on the Government of India to streamline public procurement for small entrepreneurs by removing structural bottlenecks and providing tax and tariff incentives to help LGE products reach customers at scale.
• Global trends indicate a shift toward 'zero carbon' norms in countries such as the UK, EU, Bhutan, and Japan, and a rise in divestment from fossil fuels, which grew to US$ 8 trillion. However, the report notes that financial flows to the 'brown' economy still dominate and fossil fuel subsidies accounted for 6.5% of global GDP in 2017.

APA

Green Economy Coalition (2020). Building Movements of MSMEs within India’s Transition to an Inclusive Green Economy. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/Delhi-GM-2020/GEC-Global-Meeting-2020-New-Delhi-Final-Event-Report.pdf

Chicago

Green Economy Coalition. Building Movements of MSMEs within India’s Transition to an Inclusive Green Economy. 2020. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/Delhi-GM-2020/GEC-Global-Meeting-2020-New-Delhi-Final-Event-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Economy Coalition |title=Building Movements of MSMEs within India’s Transition to an Inclusive Green Economy |date=2020 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/Delhi-GM-2020/GEC-Global-Meeting-2020-New-Delhi-Final-Event-Report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greeneconomycoalition2020building, author = {{Green Economy Coalition}}, title = {{Building Movements of MSMEs within India’s Transition to an Inclusive Green Economy}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/Delhi-GM-2020/GEC-Global-Meeting-2020-New-Delhi-Final-Event-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }