4 global trends on entrepreneurship and sustainability

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🗞️ Driving the news: New research from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) highlights four emerging global trends in how entrepreneurs engage with sustainability
• Surprisingly, entrepreneurs in the Global South outperform their Northern peers on key sustainability metrics, while women, youth and graduates are leading forces in embedding purpose-driven values into business
• The findings underscore gaps in SDG awareness, yet reveal that action often precedes formal knowledge of global goals

🔭 The context: The GEM, a long-running consortium of academic teams collecting data directly from entrepreneurs in ~60 countries, published Sustainability and Entrepreneurship: Awareness and Actions
• Its report coincides with the UN’s sobering midterm review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), showing only 17% on track for 2030
• Against this backdrop, the GEM study provides nuanced insights into how entrepreneurship could accelerate progress on sustainability at a time when traditional approaches fall short

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Entrepreneurs can play a critical role in closing sustainability gaps, especially in regions where climate and social impacts are most acute
• The research shows that entrepreneurial action on sustainability does not necessarily depend on formal SDG awareness, suggesting grassroots potential
• However, inconsistent awareness risks misalignment with global targets, highlighting the need for better education and policy support to channel entrepreneurial energy effectively

⏭️ What's next: Policy-makers are urged to tailor interventions to income contexts: low-income economies can offer tax and infrastructure incentives for green and social enterprises; middle-income economies can boost R&D and require sustainability reporting; and high-income economies can lead by example with ambitious targets and green infrastructure investments
• Ensuring entrepreneurs are equipped with both the mindset and enabling conditions to deliver contextualised, scalable solutions will be key in the final stretch toward 2030 SDG targets

💬 One quote: “Awareness is by no means a prerequisite for action on the issues and challenges encompassed in the SDGs.” — GEM Sustainability and Entrepreneurship Report 2025

📈 One stat: Only 17% of the SDGs are currently on track for 2030, per the UN’s 2024 progress evaluation

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