(Finance) – General participated for the first time in the 2024 edition of the New York Climate Week (Climate Week NYC) hosting the event “Sustainability Champions: Strengthening SMEs for a Climate-Resilient Tomorrow” – together with the Permanent Representation of Italy to the UN and with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) – dedicated to promoting the resilience of global supply chains and the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that power them.
Organized by Climate Group, Climate Week NYC is the main annual event of this kind dedicated to the climate, with over 600 events and initiatives across New York – in person, in hybrid format and online – to bring together business leaders, political decision makers, including local ones, and representatives of civil society from around the world to lead the climate transition and accelerate progress in this area.
Co-hosted by Generali, the event brought together the perspectives of esteemed experts, industry leaders and policy makers in a collaborative forum, to highlight strategies innovativepractices to encourage resilience and crucial concrete solutions for global supply chains and the SMEs around the world in a context of growing climate risks. The focus was on the intersection between sustainability, entrepreneurship and resilience through the exchange of knowledge, discussing concrete initiatives for a resilient future that allows everyone to better manage the effects of climate change.
Generali was represented by Lucia SilvaGroup Chief Sustainability Officer, who commented: “SMEs around the world face unique challenges when dealing with climate change. Therefore, initiatives to improve their resilience, such as providing access to finance, promoting innovation and encouraging sustainable practices, are essential to building a more resilient and inclusive economy that can withstand the growing challenges of a changing climate. It is a vision shared by Generali and UNDP which, in seeking concrete solutions to promote the sustainability and climate resilience of SMEs, recognizes their fundamental role in relation to global supply chains and the economy in general, in addition to the essential contribution of partnerships public-private, intersectoral collaboration and knowledge sharing”.
Manage the challenges SMEs face and strengthen their resilience against change climate it is essential for several reasons. SMEs represent the majority of businesses globally, comprising more than 90% of all businesses and employing more than 50% of the global workforce. Their importance is further underlined by the contribution to production economicalgiven that SMEs represent around 50% of GDP in developed countries and up to 40% in emerging economies.
In addition to their economic impact, SMEs act as drivers of innovation and entrepreneurshipcontributing to a greater extent to productivity increases and promoting sustainable development. SMEs also play a crucial role in the interconnected global economy, being deeply integrated into supply chains from one continent to another. They act as producers and suppliers of goods and services, connecting businesses beyond borders and contributing to the resilience and efficiency of market global. In today’s interconnected world, disruptions in one part of the globe can have far-reaching consequences, highlighting the importance of strengthening the resilience of SMEs against the impacts of climate change while exploring ways in which they can reduce their emissions and improve their sustainability .