Abstract
The capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to cope with and adapt to climate-related shocks is a major factor in the climate resilience of the local and national economies they are embedded in. In developing countries, SMEs tend to exhibit low adaptive capacities, influenced by their enabling environments. A holistic understanding of how their capacity to adapt is influenced by both the qualities of their enabling environments and their inherent characteristics is needed. This study contributes to this understanding by reviewing the current knowledge of adaptive capacity in SMEs and providing an analysis of the environment for enabling SMEs to adapt to flood risk in Sri Lanka. Data originates from the Building Businesses’ Climate Resilience project, implemented in Sri Lanka between 2018 and 2021. The study finds that deficiencies in Sri Lanka’s enabling environment mean SMEs are unable to attain the information and competencies that would allow them to adopt suitable adaptation strategies for managing flood risk. Simultaneously, the results show that their capacity to cope with the impacts of flood events is not adequately enhanced by the financial services and support available prior to, and in the aftermath of, extreme weather events. Accordingly, it is suggested that the national government play a greater role in enhancing the enabling environment for adaptation. With the support of other prominent actors in Sri Lanka’s enabling environment, they should seek to enhance access to post-disaster finance, the availability of affordable insurance products for uninsured SMEs, and the availability of interventions and resources that fill the information and capacity gaps that SMEs possess.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Raw data from key informant interviews and surveys of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is not publicly available. However, the baseline project for the report, which was also developed using this information, is available on the project page of UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre’s website.
Code availability
Not relevant.
Notes
For an exploration of the links between the private sector and community resilience see McKnight and Linnenluecke (2016).
Defined in this study as companies with between 10 and 300 employees.
Passive strategies are considered to be those for which the strategy is inaction. In their paper, Neise and Revilla Diez (2019) disaggregate these strategies further into depending and surrendering. The former of which is centred around a firm relying on the state authorities to implement adaptation measures on their behalf, whilst the latter is underlined by either the inability to implement measures with firms simply tolerating losses and disruptions or a willingness to adopt a ‘wait and see’ strategy.
According to the Sri Lanka Ministry of Industry and Commerce (2015), in Sri Lanka SMEs are defined as enterprises with an annual turnover of 16–750 Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) and between 11 and 200 or 11 and 300 employees, depending on whether an enterprise is in the services sector or manufacturing sector, respectively.
The remaining businesses are classified as micro enterprises (91.8%) and large enterprises (0.2%), which provide 30 and 25% of total employment, respectively (Sri Lanka Ministry of Industry and Commerce, 2016).
The underlying data for these numbers are derived from Sri Lanka’s economic census. Owing to the difficulty that government authorities typically face in identifying and engaging informal businesses – which are typically much smaller than formal businesses – this data is likely to underestimate the total number of micro, small, and to a lesser extent medium-sized enterprises.
A list of interviewees can be found in Appendix 2.
A description sampling procedure used to identify SMEs for the survey and an overview of the characteristics of the final sample can be found in Appendix 1.
For example, clearing drainage ditches, repairing flood walls, and maintaining flood pumps.
For example, the Meteorological Department, the Ministry of Irrigation, the Water Resources and Disaster Management.
Based on the definition applied by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Industry and Commerce (2016).
Whether a SME is classified as formal or informal is based on whether the business is officially registered in the country’s economic system.
The criteria for number of employees is derived from the definition of an SME applied by the Sri Lanka Ministry of Industry and Commerce. In addition to this criterion, the definition applied by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Industry and Commerce also has a component based on annual turnover, due to issues with getting SMEs to share this information, this aspect was not applied as a criteria for sampling.
References
Agrawala S, Carraro M, Kingsmill N, Lanzi E, Mullan M, Prudent-Richard G (2011) Private sector engagement in adaptation to climate change: approaches to managing climate risks. In OECD Environment Working Papers 39. OECD Publishing, Paris, France. https://doi.org/10.1787/5kg221jkf1g7-en
Ahmad SZ, Xavier SR (2011) Preliminary investigation of Yemeni women entrepreneurs: some challenges for development and barriers to success. Int J Entrep Small Bus 13(4):518. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJESB.2011.041841
Al Shukaili A, Cucculelli M, González-Pernía JL, Legazkue IP (2018) Entrepreneurship policy to overcome barriers to new firm growth in a developing economy: evidence from Oman. Int J Entrep Small Bus 35(4):511–537. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJESB.2018.096173
Asgary A, Anjum MI, Azimi N (2012) Disaster recovery and business continuity after the 2010 flood in Pakistan: case of small businesses. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 2(1):46–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2012.08.001
Asgary A, Sadeghi Naini A (2011) Modelling the adaptation of business continuity planning by businesses using neural networks. Intell Syst Account Finance Manag 18(2–3):89–104. https://doi.org/10.1002/isaf.326
Auzzir Z, Haigh R, Amaratunga D (2018) Impacts of disaster to SMEs in Malaysia. Procedia Engineering 212:1131–1138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.146
Averchenkova A, Crick F, Kocornik-Mina A, Leck H, Surminski S (2016) Multinational and large national corporations and climate adaptation: are we asking the right questions? A review of current knowledge and a new research perspective. Wiley Interdisciplinary Rev: Climate Change 7(4):517–536. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.402
AXA, UNEP Finance Initiative (2015) Business unusual: why the climate is changing the rules for our cities and SMEs. AXA Group, Paris, France. https://www.unepfi.org/psi/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/business_unusual.pdf
Ayyagari M, Demirguc-Kunt A, Maksimovic V (2011) Small vs. young firms across the world contribution to employment, job creation, and growth (No. 5631; Policy Research Working Paper). The World Bank, Washington DC, United States of America. http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/478851468161354807/pdf/WPS5631.pdf
Baba H, Watanabe T, Nagaishi M, Matsumoto H (2014) ScienceDirect Area Business Continuity Management, a new opportunity for building economic resilience. Procedia Econ Finance 18:296–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(14)00943-5
Ballard D, Bond C, Pyatt N, Lonsdale K, Whitman G, Dessai S, Evans M, Tweed J (2013) PREPARE - barriers and enablers to organisational and sectoral adaptive capacity - qualitative study, Part of the PREPARE Programme of research on preparedness, adaptation and risk, Final Report for project ERG1211. Ricardo-AEA, Oxford, United Kingdom. http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=11256_PREPARECA0513Organisationaladaptivecapacity-Finalreport.pdf
Beck T, Demirgüç-Kunt A (2006) Small and medium-size enterprises: access to finance as a growth constraint. J Bank Finance 30(11):2931–2943. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2006.05.009
Beck T, Demirgüç-Kunt A, Maksimovic V (2005) Financial and legal constraints to growth: does firm size matter? J Finance 60(1):137–177. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2005.00727.x
Begum RA, Pereira JJ (2015) The awareness, perception and motivational analysis of climate change and business perspectives in Malaysia. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 20(3):361–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-013-9495-6
Berkhout F (2012) Adaptation to climate change by organizations. Wiley Interdisciplinary Rev: Climate Change 3(1):91–106. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.154
Bond EW, Tybout J, Utar H (2015) Credit rationing, risk aversion, and industrial evolution in developing countries. Int Econ Rev 56(3), 695–722. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.comhttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2354.2009.00532.x/full
Botero MMC, Lacambra C, Leroux I (2020) Small and medium-sized businesses are among the most innovative enterprises in building climate resilience. Inter-American Development Bank. https://blogs.iadb.org/sostenibilidad/en/small-and-medium-sized-businesses-are-among-the-most-innovative-enterprises-in-building-climate-resilience/
Buchner B, Falconer A, Hervé-Mignucci M, Trabacchi C (2012) The Landscape of Climate Finance 2012. Climate Policy Initiative, San Fransico, United States of America. http://climatepolicyinitiative.org/berlin/files/2012/11/Landscape-of-Climate-Finance-in-Germany-Full-Report.pdf
Building Businesses’ Climate Resilience (2020) Final Baseline Report. UNEP DTU Partnership, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://unepdtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/final-baseline-report-bbcr-project.pdf
Chaudhury M (2018) Conceptualizing micro, small and medium enterprise engagement in climate change adaptation. In Caroline Schaer & N. Kuruppu (Eds.), Private-sector action in adaptation: Perspectives on the role of micro, small and medium size enterprises 29–38. UNEP DTU Partnership, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/162053774/MSME_Adaptation_updated_WEB.pdf
Cimato F, Mullan M (2010) Adapting to climate change: analysing the role of government (No. 1; Defra Evidence and Analysis Series, Issue January). Defra, London, United Kingdom. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69194/pb13341-analysing-role-government-100122.pdf
Crawford M, Seidel S (2013) Weathering the storm: building business resilience to climate change (Issue July). Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, Washington DC, United States of America, http://www.c2es.org/publications/weathering-storm-building-business-resilience-climate-change
Crichton D (2006) Climate change and its effects on small businesses in the UK. AXA Insurance UK plc, United Kingdom. https://www.greensuffolk.org/app/uploads/2021/05/SMEs-Climate-Change.pdf
Crick F, Gannon KE, Diop M, Sow M (2018) Enabling private sector adaptation to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa. Wiley Interdisciplinary Rev: Clim Change 9(2):1–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.505
Crick F, Diop M, Sow M, Diouf B, Diouf B, Muhwanga J (2016) Enabling private sector adaptation in developing countries and their semi-arid regions – case studies of Senegal and Kenya. Centre Clim Change Econ Policy Working Paper No. 291. Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, United Kingdom. https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Working-Paper-258-Crick-et-al.pdf
Dale TW, Gao J, Avashia VK, Konrad S, Garg A (2021) Private sector adaptation reporting as a source of input to the Global Stocktake. UNEP DTU Partnership, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://www.climateworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Private-sector-adaptation-in-the-global-stockake.pdf
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (2012) The advantages of adaptation: big opportunities for small business. Climate change adaptation innovation opportunties for indian micro-small & medium sized businesses (MSMEs). Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, New Delhi, India. https://www.giz.de/en/downloads/giz-2012-climate-opportunity-study-en.pdf
Dougherty-Choux L, Terpstra P, Kammila S, Kurukulasuriya P (2015) Adapting from the ground up: enabling small businesses in developing countries to adapt to climate change. World Resources Institute, Washington DC, Unites States of America. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/Adapting_From_The_Ground_Up.pdf?_ga=2.257459979.1805193353.1557690299-510386906.1552981909
Federal Emergency Management Agency (2011) A whole community approach to emergency management: principles, themes, and pathways for action (Issue December). Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States of America. https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/whole_community_dec2011__2.pdf
Frei-Oldenburg A, Wohlgemuth J, von Stieglitz SM, Stahr C, Eisinger F (2018) Climate expert: a bottom-up approach to SME resilience to climate change. In: Schaer C, Kuruppu N (eds) Private-sector action in adaptation: perspectives on the role of micro, small and medium size enterprises. UNEP DTU Partnership, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/162053774/MSME_Adaptation_updated_WEB.pdf
Frey B, Gardaz A, Karbassi L, Goldberg M, Luboyera F, Fischer R, Scott G, Morrison J, Woodward S, Charles G, Coleman H, Shufro N, Dougherty-Choux L, Metzger E, Terpstra P, Dickson B, Shiffer E, Bee S, Olhoff A, Schaer C, Levick K, Reuvers S, Hermans L, Gannon C, Mazzacurati E, Seville A, Hayward J, Coffee J (2015) The business case for responsible corporate adaptation: Strengthening private sector and community resilience. A caring for climate report. UN Global Compact, United States of America. https://d306pr3pise04h.cloudfront.net/docs/issues_doc%2FEnvironment%2Fclimate%2FAdaptation-2015.pdf
Gamage P (2015) Bank finance for small and medium-sized enterprises in Sri Lanka: issues and policy reforms. Stud Bus Econ 10(2):32–43. https://doi.org/10.1515/sbe-2015-0018
Gunathilaka S (2018) The impact of natural disasters on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs): a case study on 2016 Flood Event in Western Sri Lanka. Procedia Eng 212:744–751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.096
Herbane B (2010) Small business research: time for a crisis-based view. Int Small Bus J 28(1):43–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242609350804
Herbane B (2015) Threat orientation in small and medium-sized enterprises: understanding differences toward acute interruptions. Disaster Prev Manag 24(5):583–595. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-12-2014-0272
Herrington M, Kelley D (2012) African entrepreneurship: Sub-Saharan African regional report. University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. https://www.babson.edu/media/babson/site-assets/content-assets/about/academics/centres-and-institutes/blank-institute/global-research/global-entrepreneurship-monitor/reports/GEM-2012-Africa-Report.pdf
Hoedjes J, Miller A Usher J (2018) Climate information for climate change adaptation. In: Schaer C, Kuruppu N (eds) Private-sector action in adaptation: perspectives on the role of micro, small and medium size enterprises (pp 19–29). UNEP DTU Partnership, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/162053774/MSME_Adaptation_updated_WEB.pdf
Hutchinson J, Xavier A (2006) Comparing the impact of credit constraints on the growth of SMEs in a transition country with an established market economy. Small Bus Econ 27(2–3):169–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-005-4412-3
iPrepare (2017) Strengthening the disaster resilience of small and medium enterprises in Asia. Regional Synthesis Report. Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Bangkok, Thailand. http://www.adpc.net/sme-resilience-asia/download/IP_RegionalSynthesisReport.pdf
Kato M, Charoenrat T (2018) Business continuity management of small and medium sized enterprises: evidence from Thailand. Int J Disaster Risk Reduction 27:577–587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.10.002
de Kok J, Deijl C, Veldhuis-Van Essen C (2017) Is small still beautiful? Literature review of recent empirical evidence on the contribution of SMEs to employment creation. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Eschborn, Germany. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_ent/---ifp_seed/documents/publication/wcms_216909.pdf
Kuruppu N, Mukheibir P, Murta J (2014) Ensuring small business continuity under a changing climate: the role of adaptive capacity. In: Palutikof JP, Boulter SL, Barnett J, Rissik D (eds) Appl Stud Clim Adaptation 429–436. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118845028.ch48
Linnenluecke MK, Griffiths A, Winn MI (2013) Firm and industry adaptation to climate change: a review of climate adaptation studies in the business and management field. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 4(5):397–416. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.214
Linnenluecke MK, Griffiths A, Mumby PJ (2015) Executives’ engagement with climate science and perceived need for business adaptation to climate change. Clim Change 131(2):321–333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1387-1
Linnenluecke MK, Smith T (2018) Adaptation of MSMEs to climate change: a review of the existing literature. In Schaer C, Kuruppu N (eds) Private-sector action in adaptation: Perspectives on the role of micro, small and medium size enterprises 19–29. UNEP DTU Partnership, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/162053774/MSME_Adaptation_updated_WEB.pdf
Lonsdale KG, Gawith MJ, Johnstone K, Street RB, West CC, Brown AD (2010) Attributes of well-adapting organisations. UK Climate Impacts Programme, United Kingdom. http://www.ukcip.org.uk/wp-content/PDFs/UKCIP_Well_adapting_organisations.pdf
Luo P, Wang H, Yang Z (2016) Investment and financing for SMEs with a partial guarantee and jump risk. Eur J Oper Res 249(3):1161–1168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2015.09.032
Mamman A, Bawole J, Agbebi M, Alhassan AR (2019) SME policy formulation and implementation in Africa: unpacking assumptions as opportunity for research direction. J Bus Res 97:304–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.01.044
Mataya DC, Vincent K, Dougill AJ (2020) How can we effectively build capacity to adapt to climate change? Insights Malawi Clim Dev 12(9):781–790. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2019.1694480
Matejowsky T (2015) Merchant resiliency and climate hazard vulnerability in the urban Philippines: anthropological perspectives on 2011 Typhoons Nesat and Nalgae. Res Econ Anthropol 35:239–262. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0190-128120150000035010
McKnight B, Linnenluecke MK (2016) How firm responses to natural disasters strengthen community resilience: a stakeholder-based perspective. Organ Environ 29(3):290–307. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026616629794
McKnight B, Linnenluecke MK (2019) Patterns of firm responses to different types of natural disasters. Bus Soc 58(4):813–840. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650317698946
Mendoza RU, Lau A, Castillejos MTY (2018) Can SMEs survive natural disasters? Eva Marie Arts and Crafts versus Typhoon Yolanda. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 31(February):938–952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.08.004
Neise T, Revilla Diez J (2019) Adapt, move or surrender? Manufacturing firms’ routines and dynamic capabilities on flood risk reduction in coastal cities of Indonesia. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 33(July 2018), 332–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.10.018
Niranjala SAUU, Wei J (2017). Access to finance and related issues in the SMEs in Sri Lanka. In 2017 3rd Int Conf Inf Manag ICIM 2017. Insitute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, New Jersey, United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1109/INFOMAN.2017.7950363
O’Brien T, Brandes-van Dorresteijn D (2018) Government approaches to catalyse MSME resilience to climate change. In Caroline Schaer & N. Kuruppu (Eds.), Private-sector action in adaptation: Perspectives on the role of micro, small and medium size enterprises (1st ed., pp. 111–121). UNEP DTU Partnership. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15961-9_82
Pathak S, Ahmad MM (2016) Flood recovery capacities of the manufacturing SMEs from floods: a case study in Pathumthani province, Thailand. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 18:197–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.07.001
Pathak S, Emah IE (2017) Gendered approach towards disaster recovery: experiences from 2011 floods in Pathumthani province, Thailand. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 24(May):129–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.06.007
Pauw P, Pegels A (2013) Private sector engagement in climate change adaptation in least developed countries: an exploration. Climate Dev 5(4):257–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2013.826130
Resch E, Gao J (2022) Climate change: business risks and opportunities. The role of private sector adaption. UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://unepdtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/climate-change-business-risks-and-opportunities-the-role-of-private-sector-adaption-web.pdf
Runyan RC (2006) Small business in the face of crisis: identifying barriers to recovery from a natural disaster1. J Contingencies Crisis Manag 14(1):12–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2006.00477.x
Schaer, Caroline, Dale TW, Dorkenoo K (2019) Climate change adaptation and smaller businesses in the Global South: defining roles, limitations, and touch points for positive interventions for MSMEs situated in developing countries (No. 3; Working Paper Series). https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/climate-change-adaptation-and-smaller-businesses-in-the-global-so
Sri Lanka Ministry of Industry and Commerce (2015) National policy framework for small medium enterprise (SME) development. Sri Lanka Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Ministry of Industry and Commerce (2016) National policy framework for small medium enterprise (SME) development action plan. Sri Lanka Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Sri Lanka Ministry of Disaster Management, United Nations Sri Lanka, World Bank Group, European Union, & Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (2017) Sri Lanka rapid post disaster needs assessment floods and landslides, May 2017 (Issue May). Sri Lanka Ministry of National Poilicies and Economic Affairs, Colombo, Sri Lanka. https://lk.one.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/PDNA-Sri-lanka-2017.pdf
Stenek V, Amado J-C, Greenall D (2013) Enabling environment for private sector adaptation. The World Bank, Washington DC, United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1596/26121
Stern N (2006) Policy responses for adaptation: adaptation in the developed world. In Stern Rev: Econ Clim Change 416–429. Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.3386/w12741
Surminski S, Hankinson J (2018) MSMEs, climate change risks and insurance: reflections on the use of insurance for climate adaptation. In: Schaer C, Kuruppu N (eds) Private-sector action in adaptation: perspectives on the role of micro, small and medium size enterprises (1st ed., pp 65–78). UNEP DTU Partnership, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15961-9_82
Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (2017) Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. https://assets.bbhub.io/company/sites/60/2021/10/FINAL-2017-TCFD-Report.pdf
Terpstra P, Ofstedah A (2013) Micro, small, and medium enterprises: key players in climate adaptation. World Resour Institute. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-5631
United Nations Development Programme (2008) Capacity development: practice note. United Nations Development Programme, New York, United States of America. https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/publications/PN_Capacity_Development.pdf
Wedawatta G, Ingirige B, Amaratunga D (2010) Building up resilience of construction sector SMEs and their supply chains to extreme weather events. Int J Strateg Prop Manag 14(4):362–375. https://doi.org/10.3846/ijspm.2010.27
Wijesinha A, Perera N (2015) Banking on SME growth: concepts, challenges, and policy Options to Improve Access to Finance in Sri Lanka (No. 20; Working Paper Series). Institue of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka. https://www.ips.lk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Banking-on-SME-Growth.pdf
Wilson S (2018) An opportunistic approach to climate resilience in developing countries. In: Schaer C, Kuruppu N (eds) Private-sector action in adaptation: perspectives on the role of micro, small and medium size enterprises 39–50. UNEP DTU Partnership, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/162053774/MSME_Adaptation_updated_WEB.pdf
World Meteorological Organisation (2018) Multi-hazard early warning systems: a checklist. World Meteorological Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland. https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=4463#:~:text=The%20four%20elements%20of%20efficient,dissemination%20and%20communication%2C%20by%20an
Yoshida K, Deyle RE (2005) Determinants of small business hazard mitigation. Nat Hazard Rev 6(1):1–12. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1527-6988(2005)6:1(1)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the external reviewers for providing excellent feedback that was critical in improving the quality of this manuscript. In addition, we would also like to acknowledge that the empirical data analysed in this manuscript was collected under the Building Businesses’ Climate Resilience project, which was financially supported by the Nordic Climate Facility (NCF 7 Project No. NCF-C7-102).
Funding
The funding to conduct this research and write this study was covered using internal funding at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (formerly UNEP DTU Partnership). The Building Businesses’ Climate Resilience project from which the data is collected was funded by the Nordic Climate Facility (NCF).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All listed authors contributed to the analysis presented in this manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
Not relevant.
Consent to participate
Not relevant.
Consent for publication
Not relevant.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendices
Appendix
Appendix 1 Sampling procedure applied to identify SMEs for the survey
2.1 Objectives of sampling procedure:
The objective of the sampling procedure was to obtain a sample that had the following characteristics:
-
1.
Coverage across both small and medium-sized businesses;Footnote 12
-
2.
Coverage across different types of industry;
-
3.
Coverage across both formal and informal SMEs.Footnote 13
2.2 Sampling plan:
To generate a sample that meets the criteria above, SMEs were identified using three approaches:
-
1.
Via a list of businesses provided by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce;
-
2.
Through site visits by local enumerators to locations with clusters of SMEs within the three study districts;
-
3.
Snowballing and random sampling.
To be included in the final sample, businesses had to meet the following criteria:
-
1.
They are located in one of the three flood-prone districts selected as study areas (Gampaha, Kalutara, and Ratnapura).
-
2.
They employ between 10‒300 employees.Footnote 14
2.3 Characteristics of the final sample:
In relation to the objectives of the sampling procedure, the final sample had the following characteristics:
2.3.1 Industry
SMEs in the final sample operate across a diverse range of industries, including garment manufacturing, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), light engineering, leather manufacturing, printing, food and jewellery, retails, electrical and electronics, and small hotels.
Table 1
2.3.2 Size
Based on the number of people they employ, 78% of the final sample would be classified as small-sized businesses and 22% would be classified as medium-sized businesses.
Table 2
Based on their annual turnover, 27.2% of the final sample would be classified as micro-sized, 55% would be classified as small-sized businesses and 18.2% would be classified as medium-sized businesses.
Table 3
2.3.3 Registration status
Based on whether the business is officially registered in the country’s economic system, 79% of the final sample would be classified as formal and 21% would be classified as informal.
Appendix 2. List of interviewees
Table 4
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dale, T.W., Charlery, L., Gao, J. et al. Enabling private sector adaptation to climate change: factors supporting and limiting adaptation amongst Sri Lankan SMEs. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 27, 40 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-022-10011-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-022-10011-y