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United Nations Refugee Agency's Refugee-Led Innovation Fund Winner

Bridging the Climate Gap: Bridging Gaps Microloans for ‘Climatepreneurs’

Rita Gachagua
3 min read

The world is watching as unprecedented climate disasters continue to unfold. This January, a Reuters report highlighted the Southern California wildfires, which burned for over 18 days and left tens of thousands homeless. Additionally, from the WMO State of the Global Climate report, in 2024 alone the El Niño climate phenomenon that is characterised by heavy rains caused flooding displacing over 1.6 million people in East Africa. Unexpected areas became heat stressed and drought stricken including the Amazon, Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean after experiencing record-level heat waves going over the critical 1.5°C warming threshold set by the 2015 Paris Agreement. This is a sobering reality that climate change cannot be wished away. We need to take deliberate steps to ensure climate action takes center stage. Not in the future, but in this decade as our window of opportunity is closing fast. We must act now—mitigate global warming, shield vulnerable communities from the impact of climate change and secure a sustainable future.


As Bridging Gaps we are alive to this reality and are heeding the call to take action. According to the Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA) initiative, there is a $3.5 trillion funding deficit to reach zero net emissions. With this in mind, we are launching green interest-free microloans to support ‘’climatepreneurs’’ driving innovation through renewable energy products, advancing sustainable agriculture, crafting eco-friendly products and supporting reforestation and carbon sequestration efforts. These microloans will focus mainly on small businesses in the global South, where the effects of climate change are most severe. As IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva stated during the Davos 2025 session, ‘The Global Economic Outlook’: ‘Capital has to have long legs to go where it makes the biggest difference'.


(Sabri started his charging station powered by solar energy)


Social entrepreneurs running small and medium enterprises are riddled with barriers that hinder their ability to scale and sustain their impact. For instance, they face financing gaps especially because traditional lending systems tend to cautiously avoid small businesses leaving such innovators stranded or with their ideas only on paper even when they have high impact potential. In an article by the World Bank, small and medium businesses are the backbone of national economies and the key drivers of innovation, particularly for daunting challenges like climate change. This is especially in developing countries.  They account for 90% of enterprises and 50% of jobs created globally.


Access to capital is a game-changer for these small and medium social enterprises, striving to grow and make a difference. Through our pay-it-forward model, we empower grassroots innovators brimming with creativity, talent and ambition to turn their sustainable ideas into viable impactful organisations. Join us in supporting ‘climatepreneurs’—donate today! If you have any questions about our Green Microloans or the Climatepreneurs of Bridging Gaps, reach out to us at info@bridging-gaps.org.


Which climatepreneurs would you like to support?

  • Renewable energy innovators

  • Sustainable agriculture pioneers

  • Reforestation and carbon sequestration experts

  • Eco-friendly product creators

You can vote for more than one answer.


Reference:

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