Importance of Eco-Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Climate Action and LowCarbon Transition in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Nigeria

Abstract

Climate change poses socio-economic, legal and environmental vulnerabilities
such as land degradation, biodiversity loss, loss of property and livelihood,
increase poverty rate and a threat to public health. These impacts are said to only
intensify with projected increase in population and global economic growth.
Hence, global consensus advocate for decarbonisation and low carbon transition
in all economic sectors as an effective mitigation strategy for climate change. In
an attempt to lower carbon emissions, leading cooperation’s and organizations
have focused on mitigation projects that regulate activities of cooperate actors
and big CO2
emitters such as the oil and gas conglomerates. However, the
United Nation Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) promotes a
transformative bottom-up approach to address climate change via localism and
citizen participation to educate and train eco-entrepreneurs or ecopreneurs who
participate and engage in strategic entrepreneurship projects designed to actively
decarbonize economies. These ecopreneurs generate home-grown sustainabilityfocused small and medium scale eco-enterprises (SMEEs), also called energy
citizens, ecological citizens, energy communities and co-operatives that can
develop sustainable business model innovations, nature-based services and
solutions, sustainable business management strategies, technologies and green
jobs needed to drive the low carbon transition in key CO2
-emitting economic
sectors such as the energy, agriculture, transportation, waste management, food,
tourism, building and architecture and fashion industries. This article examines
the characteristics, nature and benefits of eco-entrepreneurship as a tool for
advancing climate action and low carbon energy transition. Using Nigeria as a
case study, a profile of the barriers slowing the growth of eco-entrepreneurship is
identified within the PESTEL framework. Furthermore, drawing examples from
the U.K. governance landscape and portfolio, recommendations on a
transformative yet contextual strategy captured in the five transformative features
(diversity, connectivity, polycentricity, redundancy and directionality) are made to interrogate and overcome entrepreneurial ecosystem barriers towards
successfully supporting the rapid growth of eco-entrepreneurship.