Why efforts to make small and mid-size enterprises more sustainable need to address gender and social equity

This briefing from the Stockholm Environment Institute argues that sustainable development and the transition to a 'green economy' cannot be achieved without explicitly addressing gender equality and social equity, particularly within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It highlights how systemic gender-based barriers—ranging from legal discrimination to unequal access to finance—limit the potential of women as workers and entrepreneurs, thereby hindering overall economic and environmental sustainability.

• Traditional growth-focused development strategies often fail to address intra-generational equity, ignoring how social parameters like gender, class, and race create unequal power relations and prevent GDP growth from closing social gaps in education and labour force participation.
• Gender inequality is systemic and often legally enshrined; in 155 out of 173 analysed countries, gender inequality is written into law, including restrictions on certain professions in 100 countries and requirements for husbands' approval for wives to work in 18 countries.
• Women face severe financial and structural constraints as entrepreneurs; only about 30% of formal registered businesses globally are women-owned, and 70% of formal female-owned SMEs in developing countries are either unable to access financial services or are shut out by institutions, creating a nearly $300 billion annual credit deficit.
• The transition to a 'green economy' risks excluding women if it focuses on male-dominated sectors; for example, while 75% of green jobs are expected to be in renewable energy and green buildings, women make up less than 6% of technical staff and less than 1% of managers in the energy sector.
• Closing the gender gap provides significant economic benefits: equal access to land, technology, and financial services could increase agricultural production on women-owned farms by 20–30% and reduce hunger for 100–150 million people.
• To integrate gender equality into sustainability, SMEs and policymakers should implement family-friendly policies, ensure equal access to specialized training, and adopt procurement policies that target micro- and small businesses where women are most concentrated.

APA

Barbero, J. M. V., Davis, M., & Resurrección, B. P. (2017). Why efforts to make small and mid-size enterprises more sustainable need to address gender and social equity. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sei-2018-discussionbfg-gse-gender-smes-smallsize.pdf

Chicago

Barbero, José Manuel Vega, Marion Davis, and Bernadette P. Resurrección. Why efforts to make small and mid-size enterprises more sustainable need to address gender and social equity. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sei-2018-discussionbfg-gse-gender-smes-smallsize.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Barbero |first1=José Manuel Vega |last2=Davis |first2=Marion |last3=Resurrección |first3=Bernadette P. |title=Why efforts to make small and mid-size enterprises more sustainable need to address gender and social equity |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sei-2018-discussionbfg-gse-gender-smes-smallsize.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{barbero2017why, author = {Barbero, José Manuel Vega and Davis, Marion and Resurrección, Bernadette P.}, title = {{Why efforts to make small and mid-size enterprises more sustainable need to address gender and social equity}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sei-2018-discussionbfg-gse-gender-smes-smallsize.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }