Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, December 16, 2024 – The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and Trade and Development Bank (TDB) of Mongolia partner in capacity building of banks’ green finance advisors and SME capacity building in greening their businesses. Both green finance advisor and SME training are three-day training. Over 90 green finance advisors of the TDB have attended the first day of training and enhanced their knowledge and practice on real case studies and practical analyses. The training focuses on building the capacity of SMEs and green finance advisors. It is designed to equip these key stakeholders with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively engage in climate action and mobilize climate finance. The training materials are aligned with the Mongolian Green Taxonomy, ensuring that both SMEs and financial institutions are well-prepared to support and drive Mongolia’s green growth agenda.

Green finance advisors are frontline agents of the bank to investigate, advise, and support SMEs in securing the much-needed financing that fits the needs of the SMEs. The trained staff will be better equipped to identify opportunities for and advise SME in accessing green financing.

Tuguldur B., Green investment specialist: “Ultimately, we are working together to create healthy demand for green practices and finance. Healthy demand for green finance, however, is contingent to knowledge and awareness of the citizen and businesses in identifying green opportunities and transitioning to greener operations. Banks play a unique role in greening the economy. Banks not only mobilize and disburse green finance effectively and efficiently, but also, they lead in terms of disseminating knowledge and awareness, mentoring businesses in identifying and applying for green finance. TDB and GGGI are partnering in building capacity of bank’s green finance advisors and SMEs and accompany them in their transition to green lifestyles.”

SMEs account for about 67% of all registered businesses in Mongolia and employ over 40% of the country’s population. Involvement of private sector, including SMEs, to address climate change is essential. Given scale and urgency in responding to climate change, it is critical that private sector actively involved in climate mitigation and adaptation actions. Climate action presents opportunities for SMEs to integrate resilience into businesses along their path in coping with new challenges. However, due to limitations in size, SMEs face larger challenges when it comes capacity to green their operations, including knowledge about green(er) technologies, implementation capacity, and accessing finance to adapt to their businesses. Hence, capacity building of SMEs to advance their understanding of climate actions, initiatives and the opportunities that exists is an important enabling factor for achieving climate targets.