How can small businesses combat climate change?

Welcome to The Weekly Slice,?the newsletter for people dedicated to creating a more inclusive economy.?Each week, we bring you the latest in inclusive economy news, resources, and events from programs and initiatives across the Aspen Institute.

This week’s Slice focuses on the small business sector's role in combating climate change, debt's role in building wealth, and your exclusive access to inclusive-economy events during the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival.?

Let’s dig in!

Latest Publication

What Does Climate Change Mean for the Small and Growing Business Sector?

As the world struggles to combat the effects of climate change, the small and growing business (SGB) sector—which, as a share of the global economy, is anything but small—has a vital role to play in developing adaptation solutions.?

Aspen’s Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE)?analyzed the recently released?Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC)?reports. Many of the IPCC’s concerns require local entrepreneurial solutions, making SGBs a powerful force in the climate fight even as they build a more sustainable global economy.

Key Takeaways:?Some effects of climate change are irreversible and fall disproportionately on already struggling communities, places where small and growing businesses can take the lead.

• Research shows that climate finance is mostly directed towards mitigation, and that?more finance for adaptation and building resilience?is needed.
• Though funder motivations and approaches vary, there is agreement that all financial tools, both public and private, should be leveraged to?support green entrepreneurs piloting innovative solutions?or introducing existing solutions to untested markets.

Why it matters:?Since 90 percent of businesses globally are small businesses, with formalized small businesses contributing up to 40 percent of GDP in developing economies, it is essential that the small and growing business sector be at the?center of the global fight against climate change.

Read the full piece, and dig deeper by?registering to attend ANDE’s annual conference?in Leesburg, Virginia, September 13-15, 2022.

Upcoming Event

Debt: When it Helps, When it Hurts, What it Could Do to Build Household Wealth

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and our?Financial Security Program?will host a hybrid event on the role of household debt in building wealth, featuring contributors to the?“The Future of Building Wealth”?book.?

Join us Thursday, June 9, for an event exploring the role policymakers, philanthropists, and capital providers can play in improving access to capital as a tool for building long-term stability, including access to loans for higher education, starting a small business, or purchasing a home. Registration is free.

Register here.

Exclusive Aspen Ideas Opportunity

An Exclusive Invitation for Inclusive Economy Advocates

Are you interested in attending the?2022 Aspen Ideas Festival?and engaging with big ideas around creating a more inclusive economy?

To make sure our inclusive economy?advocates and?2021 Global Inclusive Growth Summit participants are a part of the conversation,?our?inclusive economy team?is offering free digital passes for the festival from June 27-30.??

With the promotion code?APIE, your Aspen Ideas Festival digital pass will grant you free access to broadcasts of in-person sessions, as well as live, virtual-only Q&A sessions with distinguished speakers.?

You’ll also receive daily curated inclusive economy content from Aspen Ideas’ Money, Trust, and Power program tracks,?the latest news and announcements, and?exclusive interviews featuring?global inclusive economy experts.

Access your free digital pass here.?

ICYMI

Need-to-know stories you may have missed.?

• Our?Business and Society Program?published?"Meet the Hedge Fund Executive Who Sees the Corporate Debt Market as an Untapped Resource for Fighting Climate Change,"?a conversation between the Institute’s?Judy Samuelson?and DSC Meridian Capital’s?Sheru Chowdhry. The two explored the role of corporations and ESG in reducing our global carbon footprint.?
• The World Economic Forum published?"Why shared principles and collective action are the building blocks of a sustainable, global economy,"?by Mastercard’s?Michael Froman. The essay calls for collective action, commitment, and collaboration from public, private, and civil sectors to achieve a sustainable and inclusive economy.
• Axios recently published?“The rise of aspirational capitalism,”?by?Jim VandeHei. The article examines the?modern U.S. business era?and implications for the next generation of workers.