Panellists at a climate change forum have called for the implementation of progressive policies to support innovation in the climate change space.
The panellists said, apart from being youth-focused and gender-conscious, such policies must provide incentives for investment in the green space.
Additionally, they stressed the need for enhanced collaboration between state institutions that had youth development and business development modules to unlock the needed capital for climate innovation financing.
Those who made the call were the lead for Agriculture at the Mastercard Foundation, Ghana, Daniel Ninson; the Country Director, Ghana's UK Director for Business and Trade, Jo Ann Takyiwah Sackey; the Programmes Coordinator, Strategic Youth Network for Development, Patience Agyekum, and co-founder of Nviron Hive, Ghana, Kwame A. A. Agyapong.
The call was made at the ClimateFest African 2025 event in Accra yesterday. The panel discussion was on the theme: "Policy as a catalyst: aligning innovation with climate resilience on a global scale".
ClimataFest Africa is a maiden event of Start-up Discovery School, a climate change and sustainability innovation entity, which combines the energy of a business festival with the impact of investor-readiness and climate action.
The event served as a platform to spotlight innovative, climate-conscious businesses while celebrating the progress of start-ups.
ClimateFest Africa provided a unique platform to showcase innovations in sustainable entrepreneurship and foster connections among key stakeholders in the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem.
Robust policies
Ms Agyekum said it was worrying that while young people had innovative ideas to drive sustainable entrepreneurship in the climate space, there were no robust policies that would leverage that potential.
She observed that when deliberate effort was made to make youth-focused green policies, it would help to bridge the gap between developed and developing countries in terms of green technologies.
In light of the above, she said all stakeholders must work together to provide the support required for innovations to flourish.
Capital access
Mr Ninson said access to capital for innovators in the climate space was key to building sustainable communities and economies, especially in Africa.
Consequently, he underscored the need for the government to take bold steps to address the challenges posed by high lending costs as a measure to promote investment in innovative climate solutions.
"Partnerships are key to unlocking capital for climate innovators, so systems must be put in place such that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can leverage available finances across the world," he said.
He also stressed that there must be a capital connection to get concessionary loans for young people in the climate space.
Mr Agyepong also said government climate policies needed to be inclusive to have a lasting impact on all segments of society.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mukuru Clean Stoves, based in Kenya, Charlot Magayi, called on young people and women to explore sustainable business opportunities in the climate change space.
“Now, we have carbon financing, so we can leverage the opportunity to create business opportunities in the area of clean cooking to protect the environment and improve quality of life,” she said.
She urged start-ups to start small and demonstrated their capacity to do more, since that was the best way to attract the needed funds to scale up their climate change initiatives.
