Jay Koh: SMEs need over $600M for climate adaptation and resilience

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) require more than $600 million in loans to adapt and build resilience to climate change, said Jay Koh, Co-founder and Managing Director of the Lightsmith Group, Report informs.

Speaking at the event titled "Sustainability in Action: Investing in Inclusive Climate Adaptation and Resilience by 2030" held as part of COP29, Koh highlighted the limited access to capital faced by these businesses.

"SMEs have a critical need for credit resources, given their current situation," Koh stated. "Recognizing this, we have decided to develop a credit strategy with our partners."

He emphasized that creating a separate strategy focused on private equity or investment, along with a separate technical support and credit mechanism, risks repeating the mistakes made during early mitigation and carbon emission reduction efforts.

Instead, Koh advocated for a "unified and transformational approach that aims to mobilize and systematically allocate capital resources."