Reconstructing Gender-Responsive Climate Finance: A Comparative Legal Study of Women’s Access to SME Financing

Diani Sadiawati; Alya Zahra Sabira; Edward Benedictus Roring; Arie Petra Levy; Peter de Meij

doi:10.15294/jllr.v7i3.49054

Authors

Diani Sadiawati Faculty of Law, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia Author
Alya Zahra Sabira Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia Author
Edward Benedictus Roring Faculty of Law, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia Author https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7175-1117
Arie Petra Levy Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia Author
Peter de Meij Center for International Legal Cooperation, Den Haag, Netherland Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15294/jllr.v7i3.49054

Keywords:

Gender-Responsive Climate Finance, Green SMEs, Sustainable Business Law, Women’s Financial Inclusion, Comparative Law

Abstract

Climate finance has become a central instrument in supporting the transition toward a low-carbon economy. Yet, its legal architecture often remains insufficiently responsive to gender-based inequalities in access to finance. Women-led green small and medium enterprises (SMEs) may contribute to climate mitigation, adaptation, and local economic resilience, but they frequently face structural barriers embedded in financing rules and procedures. This article examines how climate finance regulation operates as a legal gatekeeping mechanism that may substantively exclude women-led green SMEs. This study employs normative legal research, drawing on statutory, conceptual, and functional-comparative approaches. Indonesia is examined as the primary jurisdiction, while the European Union and Bangladesh are used as comparative jurisdictions based on the shared legal function of eligibility and access within sustainable finance regulation. The study analyzes primary legal instruments, sustainable finance policies, gender mainstreaming mandates, SME financing rules, and climate governance frameworks. It does not conduct empirical fieldwork; rather, it evaluates whether the existing legal architecture enables substantive access. The findings show that gender exclusion in climate finance is not merely a funding problem, but a legal design problem arising from fragmented regulation, formally neutral eligibility standards, and a weak linkage between sustainable finance, SME policy, and gender mainstreaming. The article contributes to sustainable business law by proposing a gender-responsive access framework based on proportional eligibility standards, gender- and MSME-disaggregated reporting, simplified documentation, institutional coordination, and alignment with SDGs 5, 8, and 13.

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