The second annual conference convened the Platform members, knowledge partners and other stakeholders to foster discussions around the critical challenges affecting the provision and uptake of sustainable finance for SMEs. It showcased the growing body of research that the Platform and other actors have developed on this important topic, with a focus on a comprehensive approach to enabling sustainable finance to drive SMEs’ green transition. The conference was an occasion to share experiences and work towards operational solutions to address the growing sustainability-related data needs of financial institutions, the challenges that SMEs face in measuring their sustainability performance and initiatives to address these challenges. Participants had the opportunity to shape the OECD Platform’s agenda to support the development of a common approach to the streamlined collection of sustainability-related data that meets the needs of FIs, while avoiding an undue burden on SMEs.
The conference brought together high level participants from the public sector (policy makers, public financial institutions, SME agencies, financial sector regulators, etc.), private financial institutions, ecosystem actors, SMEs, researchers and practitioners to explore the key drivers, challenges and potential solutions to the provision and uptake of sustainable finance for SMEs. Discussions were centred on a number of key questions:
- How can financial institutions enable the SME journey to sustainability?
- What are the main challenges and solutions for SMEs to fund their green transition?
- How can public financial institutions deliver on sustainable finance for SMEs?
- How can collaboration be fostered to promote the collection of climate and other environment-related data from SMEs?
- What are the key priorities for future action?
