microGREENFUND: Advancing Social Equality and Environmental Sustainability in Indonesia.
Our findings and field research looks at how microfinance--the provision of small loans and other financial services to people not considered credit worthy by traditional financial institutions--can be used to advance environmental sustainability as well as social equality and empowerment in Indonesia.
Its starts out by explaining the philosophical approach that We applied to problem, namely, that to create a green economy in Indonesia we need to ensure that all segments of society are engaged on environmental issues through entrepreneurship, jobs, investment opportunities and a sense that environmental problems are relevant to people’s lives.
The rest of the findings explores how microfinance can accomplish those goals through
1) supporting ‘green collar entrepreneurs’--low and moderate-income individuals who want to start or expand green micro and small businesses,
2) by providing environmental education to all borrowers so that they are empowered to become civic leaders advocating for policy changes, organizing community events, and starting businesses that improve environmental quality, and
3) by providing loans for residential energy-efficiency and renewable energy upgrades to homeowners that wouldn’t ordinarily be able to partake in these types of programs due to problems with credit history or other barriers.
Please feel free to comment and share your findings along with your ideas at darmawanconsulting@gmail.com
