The Green Industry Platform launched in 2021 I-GO, a global initiative dedicated to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) become more resource efficient to increase their competitiveness, resilience and productivity.
In addition to directly benefiting SMEs, I-GO in turn helps SME-supporting organizations increase the impact of their knowledge and support services through targeted application and access to user feedback.
At the heart of I-GO is the goal to effectively transform resource efficiency knowledge and support services into concrete business actions in a range of areas, such as energy and waste management, material efficiency and chemical sustainability.
“This multi-year effort focuses on scaling up resource efficiency efforts of SMEs by simplifying their access to tailored support services most relevant to their specific activity, location and business needs,” said Hannes Mac Nulty, Green Industry Manager with the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP).
Improving SME resource efficiency
I-GO offers an integrated resource efficiency support structure for SMEs by providing a complete toolkit that includes the SME Support Centre, self-assessment tool and implementation manager tool, as well as networking opportunities.
The self-assessment tool rapidly determines an SME’s resource efficiency status and provides customized recommendations along with a tailored list of support services most relevant to their specific needs.
The basis of this self-assessment tool is the SME Support Centre – an online database that brings together the vast array of resource efficiency knowledge products and support services available on both a country and global level – that was launched in February 2021.
To date, the support centre hosts nearly 400 resources, including technical guides, tools and case studies – with financial solutions, training programmes and technical assistance to follow – from leading organizations and experts from around the world.
I-GO’s self-assessment tool will be launched in 2022 and the initiative also aims to assist SMEs manage the implementation of resource efficiency actions through an implementation management tool to be developed during the same year.
The success of I-GO relies on strategic partnerships at all levels (national, regional and global) to build-up an effective I-GO Network for both the compilation of available knowledge products and support services and to build awareness of I-GO’s tools among SME networks.
A key aspect of the I-GO Network is to enable SME-supporting organizations to share experiences, develop collaborations and access best practice expertise to better serve SMEs. This collaborative engagement is promoted through a dedicated group on the Green Forum, as well as through planned regular events.
I-GO Regional roll outs
In collaboration with the Global Opportunities for SDGs (GO4SDGS), the Green Industry Platform is deploying I-GO in three regions: Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia.
In Africa, I-GO is being coordinated by the National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA) and was the first to kick off. In Latin America and the Caribbean, I-GO targets four countries – Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Costa Rica – and benefits from the coordination support of the Brazilian EngS Research Group. In the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) region, I-GO is being deployed in collaboration with the United Nations Development Account (UNDA) Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) project, and implemented with support of the Ukrainian Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production Centre (RECPC). It primarily targets Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine.
“The roll out of I-GO in the regions will enable to test out I-GO’s overall approach and importantly adapt its tools according to the different regional specificities for scaled-up and effective SME action,” said Adriana Zacarias Farah, Head and Global Coordinator GO4SDGs. 
“Our focus is to develop a collaborative network of SME-supporting organizations for both the effective compilation of the wide range of resource efficiency knowledge products and support services available at national and regional levels, and to build awareness of the I-GO initiative among SME networks,” said Anna-Maria Fyfe, Green Industry Platform Coordinator with the GGKP.
The current regional deployment phase was launched in the second quarter of 2021 following the annual I-GO workshop in May 2021. This event provided the opportunity for representatives from international organizations, research institutions, non-governmental organizations and business organizations to learn about the development of I-GO’s tools and share their feedback in terms of user-experience.
A growing green industry community
In its mission to promote greener industry policies and practices to all industry actors, the Green Industry Platform has welcomed a number of organizations committed to fostering a green industry community.
In 2021, the Green Industry Platform welcomed 10 new Knowledge Partners, bringing the overall total to 27. The new members include: Circle Economy, ClimateWorks Australia, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), ELSOFP initiative, Guatemalan Cleaner Production Centre, International Labour Organization, International Trade Centre, Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership, One Planet Network and World Resources Forum.
Looking towards 2022
In 2022, the platform – with the support of its partners and the new I-GO Network – plans to actively promote the I-GO self-assessment tool among key SME networks in the target countries of the I-GO pilots. The initial feedback from SME users will be crucial for both improving further the self-assessment tool and providing important input into the development of the new Implementation Management tool.
This will also be the year that the Green Industry Platform aims to develop an interactive online database of resource efficiency initiatives providing support to SMEs. The purpose of the database will be to enable the I-GO initiative to carry out a comprehensive gap analysis of available support services versus SMEs resource efficiency needs by focus area, location and sector. It will also provide all relevant stakeholders with the opportunity to easily identify collaboration opportunities within their key areas of activity.
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