Kathmandu, Nepal, January 22: Women-led enterprises (WLEs) are key contributors to Nepal’s climate-resilient livelihoods and local economies, yet continue to face persistent barriers in accessing both climate and commercial finance. To address this gap, Forest Action Nepal (FAN) and South Asia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), supported by Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), organized an event, “Unpacking and Bridging the Financial Barriers to Empower Women-Led Enterprises in Nepal”. The event brought together representatives from banks, microfinance institutions, women entrepreneurs’ groups, research institutions, and development partners.

Speakers underscored that while policy intent around gender inclusion and climate action remains strong, existing approaches often consider women entrepreneurs as welfare beneficiaries rather than as economic actors with agency and growth potential.

Panel discussions highlighted that finance alone is insufficient to unlock the potential of WLEs. Participants emphasised the need for ecosystem-based solutions that integrate access to finance with enterprise development support, market linkages, technology access, and climate risk management. Financial institutions noted that while women borrowers often demonstrate strong repayment performance, factors like business informality, lack of collateral, and climate vulnerability constrain lending at scale. Microfinance institutions were recognised as a critical entry point for building credit history, yet clearer pathways to transition from microfinance to commercial banking are essential.

The event also saw the launch of the report –Unlocking Climate Finance for Women-Led Enterprises in Nepal: Ground-Level Insights, which presents evidence-based findings on the social, financial, and operational constraints limiting finance flows to women-led businesses—particularly in climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and forestry.

The report draws on primary insights from 200 WLEs across 40 districts of Nepal, complemented by stakeholder consultations with financial institutions, policymakers, and enterprise support organizations. It finds that most WLEs rely heavily on personal savings, face limited asset ownership for collateral, and operate within informal market structures that restrict access to formal finance. Climate risks, social norms, and limited financial literacy further compound these challenges, especially for micro- and home-based enterprises.

The report outlines a set of actionable pathways to improve climate finance delivery to WLEs. These include deploying blended finance and risk-sharing instruments, strengthening aggregation and value-chain financing models, improving project preparation and financial readiness at the enterprise level, and aligning gender, climate, and financial sector policies to support enterprise scale-up. The findings reinforce that enabling WLEs is not a social add-on, but a strategic investment in Nepal’s inclusive, climate-resilient economic growth.

As Nepal advances its climate and development priorities, the report calls for a shift from fragmented interventions toward a coordinated framework that recognizes women entrepreneurs as credible, investable, and scalable economic actors—central to delivering effective climate outcomes.